Fall

Partnered with

BCOM Proposal
By: Victoria Alperovich, Richard Campitelli, Sara Lavingia, Timmy Paul,
Matthew Smith

Eat Mor Chikin and Serv Mor Ppl

08

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................. 3
Background.................................................................................. 4
Proposal......................................................................................6
Plan............................................................................................. 8
Staffing...................................................................................... 10
Budget....................................................................................... 11
References.................................................................................14

Introduction
In 2011, the number of Texans below the poverty line was more than 4.6 million. This
number has grown more than 200 thousand from the previous year (Bishaw, p. 2). There is a
huge need in North Texas to find a solution to the problem of hunger. The downward spiral of the
national economy has deeply impacted many of the families across North Texas. This has caused
thousands of families to struggle to put food on the table. Poverty is the number one problem
resulting in hunger needs. Along with poverty, many households do not know how to budget and
allocate their food spending.
This is a serious problem in the Dallas area and Chick-fil-A wants to lend a hand in the
effort to end this situation. Chick-fil-A prides itself on providing its customers with healthier
alternative on their menu. We see the need for a drastic change in this area, and we believe we
are able to make a difference. A lot of work needs to be done in order to make some sort of
change in the lives of these families, which is why we have partnered up with the North Texas
Food Bank. They are a Dallas nonprofit hunger relief organization that distributes donated,
purchased and prepared foods through a network of more than 250 Partner Agencies in 13
counties (ntfb.org, para. 1). With the support of the NTFB, Chick-fil-A will be able to put into
action a program that will drastically change the lives of these struggling families.
In order to make some sort of change, this program must do more than just provide food
for these families. There will need to be classes that would educate the parents on proper cooking
techniques and providing a nutritional meal for their children. Since most of the families are
struggling financially, there will need to be seminars on budgeting and spending habits. These
seminars will have to explain what types of food are the most affordable and nutritious. Chick-

Fil-A believes the main goal needs to focus on the nutritional aspects of buying food. By
providing a healthier alternative to the parents, their children will greatly benefit from it.
We are very excited to begin working on this new project and cannot wait to begin
working with our new partner the North Texas Food Bank. This is a unique opportunity to get in
touch with our community and make a difference in the lives of these families.

Background
Approximately one in six Americans face hunger every day, and in 2012, approximately
49 million people lived in food insecure households. Sadly, this number has only continued to
rise. In Texas alone, 18.4% of population has limited or uncertain access to food, making it the
third highest state with hunger issues. Food insecurity is a measure of poor nutrition due to
inconsistent access to enough food to keep an active and healthy lifestyle, which is different than
missing meals. The Dallas food insecurity rate is a high 20.6%, leaving 484,510 people to
suffer with the effects of hunger and malnutrition i. Those found in this situation lack the money
or resources to keep a healthy meal on the table. The effects can be detrimental to not only the
adults of the household, but especially their children. From birth, it is essential for individuals to
receive all vital nutrients in order to become a physically and mentally healthy adult ii. For this
reason, our company, Chic-fil-A, has partnered with the North Texas Food Bank in an effort to

help

those

with

food

insecurity

in

their

households.

The impact of hunger can severely harm ones mental and physical health. Getting a daily
dose of vital nutrients is imperative to living a healthy life. Not only does malnutrition increase
negative health outcomes, but it also can affect ones behaviors and social skills. Food insecure
adults who do not receive enough nutrients are more likely to develop diabetes, acquire a range
of chronic illnesses, experience higher levels of anxiety and aggression, and are slower at

developing social skills. The most devastating effects in these households are seen in children
because most of a childs development takes places in their earlier years and is heavily dependent
on good nutrition. As depicted in the table above, 26.6% of children in the Dallas area are found
in homes with food insecurity. Potential issues can arise before the child is even born. Pregnant
women who have inadequate access to food are more likely to have birth complications, babies
with low birth weight, and children with learning and attachment difficulty. As the child grows, if
their malnutrition continues, their ability to function normally in school may be hindered due to
health problems and behavioral challenges. In addition to higher risk of chronic health conditions
and more frequent hospitalization, these kids are more likely to have issues with socializing with
peers, have greater risk of school absence, and may have an array of behavioral issues including
tendency to bully, higher levels of aggression, and anxiety and mood swings.
These reasons and many more is why we partner with the North Texas food bank to join them
in their mission of passionately pursues a hunger-free community iv. The NTFB is a nonprofit
hunger relief organization working in 13 counties to distribute donated, purchased and prepared
foods. Over 175,000 nutritious meals are provided by the NTFB daily to those affected by
poverty or households with food insecurity. Together with the NTFB, Chic-Fil-A will try to help
those with food insecurity by showing them inexpensive and nutritious alternatives to cheap fast
foods and processed meals. People with food insecurity are malnourished because of poor
choices they make when purchasing food. Many are unaware of the importance of eating healthy,
and those that do know, dont think they can afford it. We will provide the adults with cooking
and nutrition seminars. We will provide them with the tools to economically prepare meals with
essential nutrients needed to keep themselves and their families healthy. The nutrition seminars

will explain how vital these nutrients are and show the benefits of eating healthier. It is our hope
that we can help those struggling with food insecurity and provide them with a healthier lifestyle.

Proposal
This program brings Chick-fil-As capital and financial power to support the North Texas Food
Bank (NTFB) to work on ending hunger in the area. Alone, the NTFB provides food to the
hungry; together, Chick-fil-A and the NTFB can empower the hungry to begin to help
themselves as well through education. With the NTFB, Chick-fil-A can strike at the heart of
hunger in the Dallas area.
Once a month, Chick-fil-A would sponsor a grand event at the NTFB, inviting people to
come in and take part in the program. Parents and children would be divided for two separate
agenda, each to learn and discover their own parts in helping themselves and fighting against
hunger on a daily and weekly basis.
Parents spend their day in two major parts: learning to properly budget and deal with
finances to ensure room for food and other physiological needs, and learning to prepare meals
that are not only inexpensive, but also healthy and filling. The budget aspect would be taught in
lecture format, to show where to buy certain foods, such as which nearby supermarkets carry
cheaper brands, or purchasing fresh, canned, or frozen produce, and how to fit it into their own
financial situations. The budget lesson would also involve making food last longer, such as
buying in bulk, using certain items in multiple ways, and learning of less expensive alternatives
to ingredients, (e.g. using onion instead of shallots, or ginger ale instead of white wine in
cooking). Cooking would be done in practicum, using a few culinary instructors to teach the

parents how to create a few healthy meals that feels more filling to their family, and satisfies all
parts of nutrition. Because of the nature of the general populous that suffers from hunger, these
recipes would be fast and simple with rather few ingredients. Important other aspects of the
cooking lesson would be to learn to utilize leftovers in multiple other recipes so that they arent
thrown away, and to learn proper portions in both purchase and preparation. At the end of the
day, parents should leave with some ideas about their budget choices, a few new recipes and
access to more, and a set amount of food provided by the NTFB that come from the recipes that
were taught that day.
Children will take part in their own activities. Firstly, children would attend their own
lesson about nutrition and making healthy decisions for snacks and such. The children would be
spurred on to make decisions in snack foods that will fill them with energy and carry them
through the day while comparing prices. Moreover, children would be encouraged to accept
different ways of eating fruits and vegetables; ways that intersect with recipes that the parents are
given. For instance, many children dont like asparagus. However, they should be encouraged to
try it with foods they recognize and enjoy, such as asparagus wrapped in bacon or atop a pizza,
as well as in interesting new ways, such as asparagus with a simple Hollandaise; these recipes
should be given or taught to the parents on that same day. In other words, the children should be
taught ways to support parents work and decisions for inexpensive and healthy food options,
through reminding parents of certain recipes they enjoyed (that the parents learned to prepare and
can purchase at minimal cost) and to balance a meal properly to make it last.
To support this program, Chick-fil-A would fundraise privately, donating a portion of
proceeds from a set amount of time for financial aid, as well as encourage employees with a
rewards program to volunteer at these events. Chick-fil-A could also donate leftover foodstuffs to

the NTFB to go along with the parents as part of food package that parents would leave with.
These proceeds would go to beating hunger in the area and the employees would be able to pride
themselves on supporting the local community and thrive in the joy of their own rewards. Both
Chick-fil-A and the NTFB would benefit from such positive marketing and public relations.

10

Plan
In order to make this dream a reality, there are items, both tangible as well as intangible,
needed for each event. It wont be too overwhelming, since these items will only be needed for
one day, each month. Items provided by Chick-fil-A will include: Chick-fil-A menu items, staff
members to help with demonstrations and lectures along with volunteers from the NTFB, as well
as donations to the NTFB from fundraisers done at Chick-fil-A. The attendees of the event can
use their grocery items from the food bank to help prepare meals with the help of experts. The
NTFB may also need to provide additional food resources for the classes as well as some extra
items for the attendees to take home.
This program would benefit all parties involved. Chick-fil-A can help battle off some
negative attention they have received in the media by showing how they help contribute to the
worlds hunger problem. This will add to the companys goodwill as well as giving customers a
reason to Eat More Chikin. Additionally, the employees that help volunteer at the monthly
event will feel good about themselves, knowing they helped others in their community. This
could lead to them spreading awareness about hunger to customers, family and friends. Beyond
the awareness, Chick-fil-A members satisfaction with themselves will reflect in a more positive
working environment, which will be seen by the customers as well.
Here is the schedule for the event, which will be held the first Saturday of every month,
planned to begin in July 2014:
10:00 a.m.: Volunteers arrive and go over plan for the day as well as organize and set-up
12:00 p.m.: Members of the community arrive. Parents and children will be escorted to
designated locations for their programs
12:15 p.m.: Parents begin information session on budgeting for food and all physiological needs.
Children will begin their nutrition lesson
2:00 p.m.: Cooking lessons begin for parents and children.
5:00 p.m.: Chick-Fil-A will provide dinner for all those that have attended the program

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In order to make this happen, there is a lot of work that needs to be done behind the
scenes as well. We hope to stay on a strict schedule of what has yet to be done:
April 10th: Finalize proposal and presentation
April 30th: Pitch proposal idea to corporate members of Chick-fil-A
May: (if proposal is approved) Begin spreading new volunteer event information to local ChickFil-A and North Texas Food Bank Employees. Give further instructions as to what they need to
accomplish before July in order for this to be a success
June: Bring awareness to the community about the event

In order to get the word out about this event, we will need a way to reach those that need
to attend. We plan to make this happen through the North Texas Food Bank. There will be
advertising signs as well as booths set up during the month of June to get attention and allow
members to sign-up. This will help with both awareness as well as planning for the event since
we will get a rough estimate of about how many people will be attending. We will also raise
awareness about the battle of hunger occurring in North Texas through the use of Chick-fil-A
retail locations. There will be facts about hunger as well as information about the North Texas
Food Bank on each bag handed out.

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Staffing
As a company, Chick-fil-A will encourage its employees to volunteer and help the cause.
Although we cannot force anyone to volunteer, there will be incentives that will be hard to
ignore. Along with the normal community service credits that will be provided, our community
service rewards system follows a three-tiered structure. The first level will encourage individuals
to take the initial step in helping the community. For the first 10 hours served volunteering with
the North Texas Food Bank, a t-shirt and $25 gift card will be provided. Once the 50 volunteer
hours mark is met, one week of paid vacation and a weeks supply of Chick-fil-A meals will be
provided. The individual that volunteers the most amount of hours will receive the Golden Cow
for Service Award and a years supply of Chick-fil-A meals. Due to these incentives, we expect
staffing to not be an issue at all. However, we want this to be a communitywide program that
inspires everyone to help. Since we are working with the North Texas Food Bank, there will be
volunteers from around North Texas that will be able to support this program as well. For these
individuals, the regular community service credits will be provided as well as various vouchers,
merchandise, and a raffle ticket for an annual drawing. For every event that an individual
volunteers at, they will be given one raffle ticket. The winner of the raffle ticket will receive free
Chick-fil-A meals for one year.

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Budget
This program will run for 12 months with one event per month. With this structure, the
company will only need to supply a fixed amount of money every month. A budget of $30,600 a
year allows us to allocate $2,550 per event. This $2,550 per event will go towards supplies,
prizes, and marketing. $1,250 will go towards supplies, $800 towards prizes, and $500 towards
marketing. Any money that is not used in any given month will be donated to the North Texas
Food Bank so that they can purchase various foods and donate them to those in need. This
program is vital for the image of our company. If the public sees Chick-fil-A as a company that
supports its community, our sales will increase dramatically. Therefore, the $30,600 a year will
be a return on investment.

Budget

Supplies; $250 Prizes; $150 Jan.; $500

Feb.; $500
Nov.; $500

Mktg.; $100

Oct.; $500

March; $500

Sept.; $500

April; $500

Aug.; $500
July; $500

Budget Per Month

Category:

May; $500
June; $500

Description:

Cost:
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Supplies
Marketing Materials
Prizes
Total:

Cooking materials, various $1,250.00

raw foods, cookbooks
Flyers, posters, agendas
$500.00
Chick-fil-A menu items, gift $800.00
cards,
shirts,
random
merchandise
$2,550.00

15

Authorization Request
To kickoff (insert plan name), we are requesting funds so that along with the North Texas Food
Bank, we can empower the hungry to begin to help themselves through our educational
courses. Funding would be a low cost of $6000 a year, providing $500 a month to complete the
budget lesson and culinary workshop for parents, as well as the kids nutrition class. At this low
cost, we can help those with hunger problems and make sure that nutrition levels are met for all
children in the Dallas area. We are requesting that the funds be available October 1, 2015. By
signing below, you are authorizing this proposal and will fund Chick-fil-A to help end hunger in
our county by confirming the budget reviewed above.
Authorized by
Signature: ______________________________
_____/______/______
Adam
Chief
Financial
Chick-fil-A
Signature: ______________________________
_____/______/______
Margaret
Chief
Executive
Chick-fil-A

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Date:
Smith
Officer
Date:
Smallwood
Officer

References
Ntfb.org. (nd.). About North Texas Food Bank. Retrieved from http://web.ntfb.org/learnmore/about-the-north-texas-food-bank
Alemayehu

Bishaw.

(September

2012).Poverty:2010

http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acsbr11-01.pdf

17

and

2011.

Retrieved

from

i http://web.ntfb.org/learn-more/learn-more-about-hunger/hunger-facts
ii http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/24/diet-mental-health_n_6566376.html
iii http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/our-research/map-the-mealgap/2009/2009-mapthemealgap-child-food-insecurity-exec-summ.pdf
iv http://web.ntfb.org/learn-more/about-the-north-texas-food-bank
v