Pizza Hut® Raises more than $14,000 for Greater Waukesha Literacy and Next Door FoundationthroughPizza Hut: The Literacy Project
Donated funds to enable access to educational resources, empower teachers and inspire readers in Milwaukee and Waukesha County
WAUKESHA, WI January 29, 2017 – Pizza Hut today announced it raised over $14,000 to support Greater Waukesha Literacy and the Next Door Foundation of Milwaukee through Pizza Hut: The Literacy Project, the restaurant company’s global commitment to literacy and reading.
Pizza Hut engaged customers and team members in a coordinated fundraising effort from September 8th through November 7th to enable access to literacy resources, empower teachers and inspire readers in the communities it serves, including Milwaukee and Waukesha County.
Launched last fall on International Literacy Day, the goal for Pizza Hut: The Literacy Project is to transform the lives of 100 million people across the globe over the course of ten years by helping them become their best through literacy and reading.
“Nearly one billion people in the world cannot read this sentence,” said Mark Dillon, CEO of Wisconsin Hospitality Group. “Literacy and reading are bridges to opportunity, and at Pizza Hut, we believe that providing access to literacy and reading resources will help people thrive, creating more prosperous economies and communities.”
As part of the campaign, Pizza Hut teamed up with First Book – a recognized nonprofit, social sector leader in supporting equal access to education by providing new books and education resources to schools and programs that serve children in need.
All funds raised will provide Greater Waukesha Literacy and the Next Door Foundation of Milwaukee with credits to the First Book Marketplace. These credits will provide the needed purchasing power that allows educators to select from thousands of specially curated book titles and other educational resources available for free or deeply reduced rates. Jim Hahn, the Executive Director from Greater Waukesha Literacy noted they were just thrilled. He said, “A small organization like ours doesn’t get such good news like this very often. We used this gift to purchase both books and technology equipment that will help us serve many, many kids and families in the coming years. Waukesha County is going to feel a real and lasting impact from this very generous program.”
Along with the credits sent to local organizations, Pizza Hut Shift Manager Robert Pittman will be traveling to Washington, DC as a First Book Ambassador. Pittman will visit the First Book Headquarters March 1st and 2nd to see the impact of The Literacy Project in action. While there, Pittman will also volunteer at a reading event at a local DC school.
Pizza Hut has a long history of supporting literacy. The Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program, which was established by the pizza restaurant in 1984, has been inspiring young people to read for more than 30 years. Approximately one in five Americans have participated in BOOK IT!, including more than 14 million students this year in 620,000 classrooms nationwide. The BOOK IT! Program is the longest-running, corporate-supported literacy program in the country, and The Literacy Program is building on that foundation.
More information about The Literacy Project can be found at TheLiteracyProject.PizzaHut.com.
About Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM), delivers more pizza, pasta and wings than any other restaurant in the world. The pizza restaurant began 58 years ago in Wichita, Kansas, when two brothers borrowed $600 from their mom to start a pizzeria. What started out small has become the biggest pizza restaurant in the world and today operates more than 16,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries serving innovative pizzas, traditional favorites like the signature Pan Pizza, and much more. Pizza Hut also is the proprietor of the BOOK IT!® Program, which is a long-standing children’s literacy program used in more than 630,000 classrooms nationwide. For more information, visit Follow Pizza Hut on Facebook ( Twitter ( and Instagram (
About First Book
First Book is an award-winning, nonprofit social enterprise that provides new books, learning materials and essentials to children in need. First Book has distributed more than 160 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income families throughout the United States and Canada. First Book's membership of more than 300,000 teachers and program leaders is the largest and fastest growing network of educators exclusively serving children from low-income families. By making new, high-quality books and essentials available to them on an ongoing basis, First Book is transforming lives, so that every child can have equal access to a quality education. Eligible educators, librarians, program leaders, and others serving children in need can sign up at firstbook.org/register. For more information, please visit firstbook.orgor follow the latest news on Facebookand Twitter.
About Wisconsin Hospitality Group
Wisconsin Hospitality Group owns and operates over 100 restaurants across Wisconsin. WHG has grown in sales to become the largest food service franchise company in the state. Headquartered in Waukesha, WHG operates 35 Applebee’s Grill & Bar restaurants and 73 Pizza Hut Restaurants, all committed to guest satisfaction and community support.
The company has also established WHG Cares, a non-profit foundation and throughout the last 18 years, WHG has been able to donate more than $2.9 million in combined gifts to local charities including Children's Hospital, World Hunger Relief, Honor Flight, One Heartland, and Project Literacy. These donations were made possible by both the generosity of guests and the hard work of all WHG team members.
*For all media inquiries, please contact:
Denise Harris / Director of Marketing
Wisconsin Hospitality Group
414.266.7876
262.751.5595
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