Contact: Colleen Roche/Samantha I. Lugo (212) 788-2958
"Over the past two years, Commissioner Scoppetta and ACS have worked tirelessly to improve the City's foster care system, but we still face many challenges," Mayor Giuliani said. "New Yorkers for Children is a wonderful organization that provides the extras that our children in foster care need and deserve. I am delighted that Pizza Hut has chosen to celebrate the City of New York by supporting our foster children. I would like to thank Mike Rawlings, Randy Gier, and Julia Tuthill of Pizza Hut; Jonathan Blum of Tricon Global Restaurants; and Joan Morgan, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Children, for their commitment to the well-being of our children."
Commissioner Scoppetta said, "Pizza Hut's donation will help provide back-to-school packages for college-bound foster children. The packages include items such as computers, dictionaries, and prepaid phone cards -- essential school items for any college-bound teenager, but too often financially out of reach for our foster teens. On behalf of New Yorkers for Children, I thank Pizza Hut, Inc. for this generous gift. I would also like to thank Paul Crotty, Group President of Bell Atlantic of New York and Connecticut, for arranging his company's generous donation of phone cards."
The "Big New Yorker Pizza" will be available in Pizza Huts outside the New York City area. The Big New Yorker Pizza box will include New York City's Official Web Site address, www.ci.nyc.ny.us , along with material encouraging customers to visit New York City.
New Yorkers for Children is a not-for-profit organization that works in concert with the Administration for Children's Services to promote the intellectual, social, and emotional development of approximately 40,000 New York City foster children. Donations help to fund mentoring and college counseling programs for foster children, as well as cultural and after-school enrichment activities for them.