Valley Forge Educational Services

Yum! Brands Celebrates Vanguard Students’ Efforts to Feed the Hungry

July 6th, 2011 by VFES

Yum! Brands Celebrates Vanguard Students’ Efforts to Feed the Hungry

Date: July 5, 2011
Submitted by: Holly Henry, VFES Director of Communications,
hohenry@vfes.net or 610-296-6725 x342

Students at Valley Forge Educational Services’ Vanguard School donated 1.9 million grains of rice to feed hungry people around the world during the 2010-2011 school year. They did it through countless hours of effort and the website freerice.com, which is operated by the U.N. World Food Programme and underwritten by corporate sponsors. Users earn grains of rice by correctly answering vocabulary and math questions.

 On June 7, one of the corporate sponsors of freerice.com, Yum! Brands, Inc., of Louisville, Ky., one of the largest restaurant companies in the world and the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, donated a KFC and Pizza Hut lunch to Vanguard students in appreciation of their extraordinary efforts.

 Karen Sherman, KFC Senior Director of Public Relations at Yum! wrote to students, “Thank you for doing all that you can to help other children in this world by learning and growing your minds.  Your hard work is helping others and I am very proud of you!” 

 Yum! Brands became aware of Vanguard’s work last year after Vanguard teacher Mary Klein contacted the company about obtaining promotional posters. The company sent students hats, T-shirts and other incentives as rewards throughout the year, in addition to providing the end-of-year lunch.

 ”I really love the relationship we’ve built and hearing about all of the incredible progress and commitment of the students,” said Karen Sherman of Yum!. “Working on freerice.com demonstrates the positive power of the Internet,” said Vanguard teacher Mary Klein. “Our students have advanced their skills, learned new information, set and achieved goals, encouraged each other, gained independence and self esteem, and reached out to help others in the world community. I am proud of all our participants and humbled by their overwhelming success this year. Our kids have made a new and valued friend.”

 “It’s important for our students to have opportunities to give back in a meaningful way,” said Tim Lanshe, Director of Education at The Vanguard School. “This is a good example of the power of working together for positive change.”

About The Vanguard School
Founded in 1959, The Vanguard School is a Pennsylvania Approved Private School for Special Education licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education that serves students ages 4 through 21 with array of disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder, neurological impairments and social-emotional difficulties. To learn more about programs offered visit www.vanguardschool-pa.org. The Vanguard School is a division of Valley Forge Educational Services.

 

About Valley Forge Educational Services:
Valley Forge Educational Services offers a wide variety of educational services focused on guiding learners to independence. VFES provides educational solutions for young children, adolescents and pre-21 adults ranging from K-12 school-based and summer programs to post high school (18-21) transition skills programming to clinical consultation services. VFES also offers professional support to organizations, schools and families through its Luma Center™ for Development and Learning, Summer Matters™ division, Vanguard School, Vanguard Transition Center and Professional Development and Parent Learning Series.  For more than 50 years, Valley Forge Educational Services has been dedicated to improving specialized education through innovative research and advanced practices for students, parents, educators, professionals and organizations. Part of VFES’ mission is to increase the awareness and understanding nationally and globally about children with special needs and to share this expertise generously. For more information on Valley Forge Educational Services, please visit www.vfes.net.

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