Proposed by: Exsamir Arroyo, Lizette Muñoz, Megan Myre, Edward Oboli, Roman
Rodriguez
Table of Contents
Proposal……………………………………………………………………………………
….…3
Background
Information…...…………………………………………………………………...4
Identifiable
Need……….…...…………………………………………………………………..5
Plan of
Action.……………………………………………………………………………….…..6
Budget………………………………………………………………………………….…
……...7
Benefits....…...……………………………………………………………………………
……..9
Work
Cited……………………………………………………………………………………...1
0
Proposal: Cease Child Poverty
It is inevitable to conclude that today’s children are the future of tomorrow.
How can we ensure that America can continue to progress in the years to come?
Our solution is quite simple, the United States should contribute to securing that
children of today can obtain a good quality life. Mature members of society have
already accomplished various goals in life and have contributed to the economic
and technological progress of the United States. By aiding the future of
tomorrow, individuals can ensure that the future of the nation will continue to
progress while living a full lifetime of joy, success, and happiness. Many of the
today’s children living in poverty face poor quality in education, health, and food
insecurity.
Chick-fil-A has the ability to positively impact the future of the United
States by engaging in a plan of action to reduce, if not possibly cease, the issue
at hand. The proposal will initiate in two profitable Dallas locations located at
14897 Preston Road and 9386 Lyndon B. Johnson. The plan of action will
constitute creating a canned-food drive every Tuesday along with Free Run, a
family event, which will be held once a year.
During weekly Tuesday participations, Chick-fil-A will grant Waffle Potato
Fries to customers who donate canned food items. The size of Waffle Potato
Fries will depend on the quantity of canned food the customer chooses to
donate. When a customer brings in one, two, or three canned foods, then they
will be eligible to receive small, medium, or large size of Waffle Fries,
respectively. Our policy will state that a limit of 1 side of fries can be redeemed
per contributing customer during the day.
“Free Run” is designed to be an enjoyable running activity that caters to all
age groups and allows everyone to participate to benefit the community,
including our staff with availability due to store closing on Sundays. Chick-fil-A’s
Free Run will constitute of three races, a 50-yard, 200-yard, and 5K race to raise
money for foundations dedicated to help the youth. Members of society will sign
up in the participating locations and pay the corresponding fee on the registration
date, May 20. Once enrolled, the participant will be given a designed “Cease
Child Poverty” shirt. Participants from both locations will converge on the second
Sunday of April to participate in one event. In the presence of any natural
uncontrollable interventions, Free Run will be rescheduled to the third Sunday of
April. The event will begin at 8:00 a.m. with staggered events throughout the
early afternoon. Please refer to the table below for further clarifications.
Distance Ages
Fee
Prize(s)
Initiation
Time
1 Place: $20 Toy-R-us Gift
Card
2 Place: Stuffed Animal
8:00 a.m.
(U.S. Dollars/
Individual)
50 Yards
1-3 years old
$5.00
st
nd
200 Yards
4-10 years
old
$15.00
1 Place: Mongoose Bike
Medal
2 Place: Medal
st
&
8:30 a.m.
nd
3 Miles
10+ years
old
$30.00
1 Place: $100 Cash
2 Place: Trophy
st
& Trophy 9:00 a.m.
nd
Background Information
The fact that 2 in every 5 children grow up underprivileged is
disappointing. Dallas has the highest child poverty rate amongst cities larger than
1 million people. Poverty in Dallas has increased by 41 percent, which is
significantly greater than the 5 percent population growth within the same 2-year
period. In comparison to other major U.S cities, it is pessimistic that a city such
as Dallas, full of wealth and opportunity, is ranked so highly in poverty. Children
of today are our future for tomorrow, we should take a stand and try to help.
Children living in poverty are at a higher risk of dropping out of school, which
consequently results in lower income jobs, therefore less contribution to taxes,
which potentially results in a burden the wealthy residents must deal with.
Above all, helping these children should be at the top of the list. The fact
that 25 percent of children struggling with poverty live in Texas should be
convincing enough to encourage a change. Bettering the lives of the children
who live in such conditions. The percentage of children living in poverty in
regards to racial and ethnicity are as follows; 36 percent Hispanic, 30 percent
African American, 24 percent American-Indian, and 10 percent white. Out of all
these children living in poverty in the state of Texas 30 percent are under the age
of 6. The children who rely on a free and reduced price meal for basic nutrition is
close to 70 percent.
The well-being of children is the biggest concern; their education, physical
and mental health, and behavior are all affected enormously because they live in
poverty. Although more kids are enrolled in pre-K programs, the reading levels of
these kids have dropped significantly. Even though the amount of high school
graduates have gone up, less than half of them are ready for college. Most of
these kids experience abuse at home due to the high stress their guardians are
under because of their economic issues. The number of children who are
renewing their Chip or Medicaid health insurance have lowered significantly. This
raises the issue of kids getting sick and not having the proper care, which then
leads to a higher risk of spreading diseases due to inadequate funds of getting
proper health care. They also are exposed to risk variable such as; delinquency,
abuse, learning disabilities, drugs and crime all before they are actually able to
start their adult life.
Ultimately in educating people about children living in poverty is not to
make people feel guilty, it’s to bring awareness to an issue that is so close to
home. In hopes of educating people about children living in poverty we also want
to try and invite new initiatives designed to try and fix a dreadful issue that no one
should have to live with.
Identifiable Need
Dallas is in need of a franchise, such as one like Chick-Fil-A, to combat
child poverty. This need could be fulfilled by donating canned food and having
fundraisers to give to the underprivileged children of Dallas. Chick-Fil-A contains
all the resources necessary to fight this cause.
Child poverty is a rising concern in the city of Dallas that needs to be
addressed immediately. According to the Dallas City Council, “Dallas has a 38
percent child poverty rate which is the highest of the nine largest U.S. cities.”
Also, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, “more than one out of every four Texas
children lives in poverty.” The graph displayed at the bottom of this page
indicates an increase from 15 to 20 percent of families below the poverty line
from 2000 to 2010.
It should be unacceptable for Dallas to have the highest child poverty rate
among large U.S. cities. We are the home of numerous Fortune 500 companies.
We are the Dallas of “Big Things Happen Here.” We are the “can-do-city.” If we
are all of these things, then why do we allow child poverty in the great City of
Dallas? We have to remember that children are the future of Dallas. By fighting
child poverty, we set up the children to be successful.
The picture at the bottom of this page shows concentrated poverty shaded
in red. As you can see, poverty has expanded across the Dallas-Fort Worth area
in a little over a decade.
Plan of Action
When discussing the plan of action, it is important that every move we
take will truly resonate with the overall goal of ceasing the child poverty in
Dallas. As stated earlier, our plan of action consists of a canned-food drive every
Tuesday in two of the most financially prosperous areas in Dallas, and we will
host a family-fun running activity called “Free Run” in the process. By involving
these specific communities, we hope to increase publicity about child poverty in
the inner city of Dallas and accumulate enough reward to use towards investing
in the future of these children.
In order for these efforts to be successful, we must create strong
awareness. We plan to utilize some of the traditional methods to do so- rewards,
shirts, passing out brochures, displays, and other information regarding the
unnecessary child poverty in the city. The posters, brochures, and information
will be updated as new statistics and facts become available. During the actual
running of the canned food-drive, we will also include window advertisements as
another added effort toward the cause. We want these methods to become an
immutable part of the two chosen Chick-fil-a restaurants in Dallas, as well as
different foster homes, foundations in Dallas that are just as dedicated in ridding
this issue. If possible, we would like to involve University of Texas at Dallas and
other schools in the area to help draw awareness.
Now you may ask who will carry this all out. We will actively run a subcommittee consisting of volunteers ranging of parents, guardians, coalition
groups, and people who are genuinely passionate about making a positive
contribution to this issue. On the part of coalition, they will work towards seeking
the necessary additional funding for purchasing some of our materials. Lastly, we
will have babysitters at the canned food drive and the “Free Run” who will serve
as additional assistance to the parents who wish to partake in these events.
We plan to have everything up and running as soon as possible (we need
to figure out a date). The coalition will begin start hanging posters, shirts, and
brochures by (need to figure out a date). The resources needed to carry out
these steps out will include the coalition approaching some foundations related to
the cause, such as Intrinsic Foundation, and local businesses to help finance the
strategy.
Budget
Budget
Projected Annual Expenses for Chick-fil-A
Canned Food Drive
Window Advertisement
Waffle Potato Fries
Total
$
30.00
$ 6,240.00
$ 6,240.00
Shirts
Gatorade
Water
Coolers
Ice
Baby Sitting Services
50-yard Prizes
200-yard Prizes
5K Prizes
Total
$ 1,320.00
$ 183.33
$
89.38
$
80.00
$
25.00
$ 200.00
$
30.00
$
85.00
$ 140.00
$ 2,152.71
Free Run
Projected Annual Expenses
$ 8,392.71
*Note that this chart represents the expenses of both locations.
To comprehend the projected expenses of our proposal, we have created
an organized table which will demonstrate the estimated costs for the first year.
The two events, Canned-Food Drive and Free Run, have been individually
calculated along with their subcategorized expenses. We have used our best
abilities to conclude to the closest possible estimation to forecast the budget
shown above on page 7.
The Canned-Food Drive is a weekly event on Tuesdays where there will
be an exchange between Chick-fil-A’s fries and donated canned foods. These
donated canned foods will be shipped to local youth shelters. The two main
expenses related to the event will the expense for Waffle Potato Fries and
window advertisement sign to promote customer awareness. The estimated
expenses shown in the table above are based on the assumption of the cost of
$40 per box of Waffle Potato Fries with a consumption of 3 boxes per week,
accounting for both locations. To increase public awareness about Tuesday’s
promotion, Chick-fil-A will need to order a window advertisement of about $15
per location, which results in a $30 period cost. The cost for the Canned-Food
Drive is forecasted to be $6,240.00.
Budget Continued
Costs for “Free Run” constitute for the shirts given at registration, drinks,
and prizes. All of the projections for this event were founded around the
estimation of 220 participants. Participants will be given a “Cease Child Poverty”
shirt at the day of registration which is estimated to be $6 per shirt. Gatorade and
water bottles in coolers will be supplied for the runners along the route to ensure
proper hydration. The company plans to provide an average of 3 water bottles
and 1.25 Gatorade bottles per participant in the race. While adults are running
the 5K, our organization will provide babysitting services to participants’ children.
To increase participation and effort during the event, Chick-fil-A will also
provide awards for first and second place winners of the three races in the Free
Run. As described in the chart on page 3, during the 50-yard race, the first place
winner will receive a gift card valued at $20 and second place winner will receive
$10 stuffed animal. First place runner in the 200-yard race will a Mongoose bike
and medal totaling an amount of $65 while the second place winner will obtain a
$10 medal. First and second place winners in the 5K race will receive $20
trophies each while first place winner will also receive an amount of $100 in
cash.
The estimated budget for “Free Run” does not take into account for any
voluntarily work such as Chick-fil-A workers, police officers, and members of
community who may be willing to dedicate some of their time to help us achieve
our goals. We will grant community service hours to students, who have lend a
hand to facilitate our event planning. We will be taking volunteers during the
registration date and make the proper adjustments which will not exceed by more
than 10 % of the total projected annual expenses.
Benefits
Our proposal will positively affect Chick-fil-A’s image. As opposed to being
simply viewed a profit-driven organization, Chick-fil-A will be viewed as a
generous organization as it will give back to the youth of Dallas. Aside from the
influence that this proposal will have in the organization, the organization will also
provide benefits for children’s poverty such as improvement in health, food
security, and education.
An online article, Poverty and Education, has concluded that “more than
one in five children is food insecure.” Our canned-food drive will directly aid his
problem by supplying essential foods which will range from sliced peaches to
ravioli. Our second event, Free Run, will have a more indirect relationship as it
will depend on the shelter’s priorities. For instance, the money from “Free Run”
will be donated to the youth shelters in which may ultimately utilized to buy fresh
foods of their choice from local markets.
As noted by Coley, high-quality education at earlier stages of life will yield
better educational results in children. A big fraction of the funds collected in the
Free Run will be carefully allocated to improve education. The money can be
used in hiring tutors in shelters to allow students gain a deeper understanding of
concepts after school. The fundraising money can also provide acquisition of new
materials such as desks, backpacks, notebooks, and desktops to improve
education quality.
In a recent study conducted in Canada, it was found that there is a direct
relationship with income of households and “improvement of children’s health”
(United States 2007). By having a canned-food drive on Tuesdays, the youth in
shelters have a greater variety of nutrients to improve their health. Our prediction
is that a vast majority of these canned foods will contain vegetables and fruits
which has an inverse relationship in respect to health related conditions. Money
gathered from Free Run will also be used to improve the quality of the current
health insurance provided by the shelter, or a new and improved health
insurance provider.
According to Kerin, a result that will follow from this action is that Chick-filA will also attract new customers as society begins to spread the words of the
new proposal. These educated customers will be aware of the actions that Chickfil-A is taking towards ceasing child poverty within the Dallas area, and be
tempted to contribute to taking their business into an organization that is giving
back to the community. In other words, Chick-fil-A will benefit from a positive
image that will lead to an increase in sales and revenue.
The proposal will have Chick-fil-A will aid provide food security, higher
quality of education, and improve health among young children undergoing the
obstacles of poverty. As mentioned before, this proposal will also bring direct
benefits to the company’s image which will result in higher sales.
Work Cited
Austin, BJ, and Eric Aasen. "In Dallas, Poverty Has Skyrocketed Over The Past Decade." In Dallas,
Poverty Has Skyrocketed Over The Past Decade. Kera News, 21 Aug. 2014. Web. 3 Apr.
2015.
"Beyond ABC." Childrens.com. Children's Health, 2014. Web. 4 Apr. 2015.
Coley, R., & Baker, B. (2013, July 1). Poverty and Education: Finding the Way Forward. Retrieved
April
13, 2015, from https://www.ets.org/s/research/pdf/poverty_and_education_report.pdf
"Editorial: Study Finds Growing Child Poverty among Dallas’ Prosperity." The Dallas Morning
News.
N.p., 21 Nov. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
Feeding the mind, body & soul of our youth (Feeding and Caring for the Children of Dallas, TX)
http://ifcares.org
Kerin, R., & Hartley, S. (2013). Marketing (11th ed.). New York City, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
"SOARING SUBURBAN POVERTY IN DALLAS AREA PUTS CHILDREN’S HEALTH AT RISK, STUDY
FINDS."
Children’s health. Dallas Morning News, 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 4 Apr. 2015.
United States. Government Accountability Office. (2007). Poverty in America economic research
shows adverse impacts on health status and other social conditions as well as the
economic
growth rate: Report to congressional requesters. Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Government
Accountability Office.