GAITHERSBURG, Md., June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Continuing its commitment to the 35 million Americans who are at risk of hunger, the Sodexo Foundation honored a new generation of activists who are making a difference in the fight against hunger and its root causes. The Foundation awarded $3,000 scholarships to five K-college students ranging in age from nine to 21 from Nevada, California, New York, Colorado, Ohio and Virginia. A $3,000 donation to the hunger-related organization of their choice was also part of the award.

The five students were selected from among 5,300 applicants to the Sodexo Foundation's STOP Hunger Scholarship program, now in its second year and growing. They were selected for demonstrating leadership in the fight against hunger, and for the results they achieved through a variety of programs in their local communities.

"Hunger and poverty can be very negative legacies handed down generation by generation," said Stephen J. Brady, president of the Sodexo Foundation. "Perhaps more than any age group, the youth of America clearly see the injustice of 35 million of their fellow citizens going hungry. We rely on the upcoming generation to lead tomorrow's solutions. Through these scholarships, we intend to foster the engagement, commitment and creativity necessary to achieve a hunger-free nation."

In addition to the five national scholarship winners, nineteen students were recognized as regional honorees with a $1,000 contribution made to the hunger-related organization of their choice.

The 2008 Sodexo Foundation STOP Hunger Scholarships were presented to:

• Kevin Kacvinsky, of Las Vegas, Nevada, a senior at Franciscan
  University in Steubenville, Ohio, who volunteers to feed the homeless and has created a nonprofit to expand the scope of his work;

• Erik Krasney, of Los Angeles, California, a senior at the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, who created programs for food and clothing distribution in L.A.'s Central City East's "skid row;"

• Cassie Muller, of Rensselaer, New York, a sophomore at Loudonville Christian School, who runs a program that provides 1,000 lunches every day during weekends and vacations;

• Travis Price of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a senior at Palmer High School, who created a program called Project TeenFeed, a coalition of adults and teens and a national restaurant chain to raise money and increase awareness about the issue of teen hunger;

• Hannah Yoxall, of Staunton, Virginia, is a nine year old who has
  collected more than 1,500 pounds of food over three years for local needy families.

Sodexo, Inc.

Sodexo, Inc. (http://www.sodexo.com) is a leading integrated food and facilities management services company in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with $7.3 billion (USD) in annual revenue and 120,000 employees. Sodexo, Inc. serves more than ten million customers daily in corporations, health care, long term care and retirement centers, schools, college campuses, government and remote sites. Sodexo, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., is a member of Sodexo Group, and funds the Sodexo Foundation (www.helpstophunger.org), an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $9.2 million in grants to fight hunger in America.

Sodexo

Sodexo

Sodexo, Inc. (www.sodexoUSA.com ) is a leading integrated facilities management services company in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, with $7.7 billion (USD) in annual revenue and 120,000 employees. Sodexo serves more than ten million customers daily in corporations, health care, long term care and retirement centers, schools, college campuses, government, and remote sites. Sodexo, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., is a member of Sodexo Group, and funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation (www.sodexofoundation.org ), an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $11 million in grants to fight hunger in America.

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