Inspiring Potential, Changing Lives
Wendy’s was founded with the belief that a company should do more than sell a product or service. It should support the communities in which it does business.
Our founder, Dave Thomas, was adopted as a child. He carried that experience with him throughout his life, with a strong desire to help other children in need find their forever homes.
Therefore, our community involvement has been particularly focused on children, on their potential and on helping them develop that potential into the realization of their dreams, whatever those might be.
"Giving back is the right thing to do." - Dave Thomas
While Dave’s passion was adoption, our employees may have their own causes that they are passionate about, and we support them in those efforts. With the Community Ambassador Grant Program, we also recognize employees who are passionately committed to their causes.
Giving back to the community is part of Wendy’s culture. It’s part of what makes us who we are.
The cause of adoption is close to our hearts, and it’s one we’ve supported since the beginning.
Dave’s unflagging energy for children in foster care made an indelible mark on how our country sees adoption. Once a topic that was rarely discussed, adoption came out of the shadows when Dave spoke. No longer something to keep quiet about, adoption is now a common event, thanks in part to Dave’s incredible efforts. Helping children – especially older children and sibling groups – find their “forever homes” was immensely gratifying to Dave, and especially life-changing for those families.
When Dave Thomas was invited by former President George H.W. Bush to be a spokesperson for a national adoption awareness campaign in 1990, he realized the impact that Wendy’s could make in the world of adoption.
Just two years later, he created the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DTFA) as a public charity with one clear goal: to help every child in foster care find a loving, permanent family.
Throughout the 1990s, Dave led a national awareness campaign for foster care adoption. In 1997, he testified before Congress to support an adoption tax credit that would make adoption more affordable. Shortly after Dave’s compelling and very personal testimony, the tax credit was signed into law. Dave was always looking for ways to bring awareness to and support of adoption issues, and we are proud to continue that work in his name.
Putting Dave’s Stamp on It
Dave Thomas would do just about anything to bring awareness to adoption, and creating a stamp with the U.S. Postal Services seemed to him like a great idea. It could bring awareness of the joys of adoption into almost every home in the country. The stamp was rolled out country-wide in 2000.
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids
To support adoption, the DTFA worked with us to develop Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, a ground-breaking fundraising program that has made a huge impact in the world of foster care adoption.
Created in 2004, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids funds full-time adoption recruiters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces. These recruiters find children in foster care who are looking for forever homes, and match them with families.
With 120 adoption recruiters, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids has matched more than 2,200 children with families, and is on track to meet its goal of matching 10,000 children by 2015. In other words, every 12 hours a child is adopted from foster care because of this work.
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids is an exciting movement that we’re very proud of. And it’s further proof that we don’t just ask, “What can we do?” – we ask, “How can we do it better?”
Click here and learn more about Wendy's Wonderful Kids.
A Home for the Holidays
Each holiday season since 1998, Wendy’s has partnered with CBS Television, the DTFA and the Children’s Action Network to produce a television special celebrating the joys of adoption.
Compelling profiles of real adoptive families, along with performances by some of the biggest names in show business make A Home for the Holidays both heart-warming and entertaining. As a result of the television special, many adoption inquiries are received each year, resulting in foster care children finding permanent, loving homes. Click here for clips from the 2010 A Home for the Holidays special.
Father’s Day Frosty Weekend
Every Father’s Day weekend, Wendy’s celebrates the joys of fatherhood by raising money for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. On Saturday and Sunday, every Frosty product sold at participating restaurants across the U.S. and Canada generates money for DTFA. Click here to read more about Father's Day Frosty Weekend.
Contributions of fifty cents in the U.S. and $1 in Canada for each Frosty have added up to $5.8 million in donations to the DTFA since 2007.
Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge
Golfing ‘fore’ kids! For 20 years, Wendy’s has organized a professional golf tournament to raise money for the DTFA. In that time, the tournament has raised more than $39 million for the cause of adoption.
The 3-Tour Challenge pits three top players from the PGA, LPGA and Champions tours against each other for bragging rights, and the opportunity to help raise money for adoption.
Several of our franchisees all over the country get into the act with their own golf tournaments and other events, partnering with employees and suppliers to raise money and awareness of the joys of adoption – and of all the kids looking for forever homes. Click here to learn more.
Wendy’s High School Heisman
Each year since 1935, one collegiate football player is chosen as the most outstanding college football player in the U.S. That player is given the Heisman Trophy, perhaps the most sought-after award in collegiate sports.
We wanted to take the Heisman spirit to the high school level, to support and celebrate scholar-athletes in their growth.
The first Wendy’s High School Heisman (WHSH) was awarded in 1994, adding the next generation of outstanding achievers to the prestigious Heisman community.
Each fall, the WHSH recognizes the nation’s most esteemed young men and women for excellence in academics, athletics and community/school leadership during their senior year of high school.
Since 1994, more than 188,000 high school students have represented their schools in the WHSH program. Of them, 181 have progressed to the National Finalist level, with 30 students earning the designation of Wendy’s High School Heisman National Award Winner. Click here to learn more.
Wendy’s Community Ambassador Grant Program
In 2010, Wendy’s launched a program to recognize employees who give back to their communities, going “above and beyond" by unselfishly volunteering their time to help others.
Through this effort, known as the Wendy's Community Ambassador Grant Program, financial support is provided to eligible community groups and charitable organizations that employees actively support with their time, energy and resources.
Some of the employees receiving recognition are highlighted below, including Dublin Ambassador of the Year, Kirk Vidra:
Wendy’s Community Ambassador of the Year
Kirk Vidra
Director, Corporate Counsel
Often experiences in our personal lives call us to action. This year’s Dublin Ambassador of the Year did just that. After surviving Stage IV skin cancer, Kirk Vidra was driven to start a non-profit association to raise funds to help others fight melanoma.
The War Against Melanoma (WAM) Foundation was founded in 2009 to raise awareness, provide education and help fund research. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, and melanoma is the deadliest form. In late 2010, the WAM Foundation made a $20,000 donation to The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute to help fund melanoma research.
Community Ambassador
Lisa Avery
Director, Enterprise Solutions
Lisa spends more than 200 hours each year volunteering for the Ohio Wildlife Center, an animal rescue organization that is 95% staffed by volunteers. To enhance her skills and make a greater impact, Lisa’s taken advantage of training courses that have enabled her to become state-certified in caring for injured or orphaned wildlife.
She’s given eye drops to a red-tailed hawk; tube-fed ducks, geese and swans; and done physical and flight therapy for big brown bats. In addition to helping with numerous rescue and release efforts, she often helps rehabilitate animals at her home.
Community Ambassador
Cari Gerren
Manager, Infrastructure Services
After participating in a fundraising walk five years ago, Cari Gerren became the volunteer coordinator for the March of Dimes in Central Ohio and now serves on their Board.
Utilizing her project management skills, she developed a systemized way to organize volunteers and logistics for fundraising events – leading to reduced expenses and better-organized fundraisers. Cari has even rallied many of her colleagues around her in both Dublin and Atlanta to support this organization, which provided her family with critical support following the premature birth of her daughter, Gracie.
Community Ambassador
Bob VanVliet
Project Manager, New Products
Bill VanVliet has been involved with building homes through Habitat for Humanity of Greater Columbus for more than 10 years. Not only does he act as a crew leader during construction of homes, he also serves on the leadership team at his church to recruit and motivate his fellow church members to participate, as well.
Over the past 12 years, with support from many of his colleagues in Dublin, he’s helped raise $100,000 to build affordable housing for low-income families. This year, Bob and volunteers from his church are building their 15th house in Dublin for Habitat for Humanity.
Community Ambassador
Nichole Splude
Senior Financial Reporting Analyst
For the past 14 years, Nichole has spent a week each summer supporting Camp Oo-U-La, a free camp for kids that have suffered a burn injury. She has been a passionate advocate for creating a family environment at the camp.
Over the years, she’s taken on increasing responsibility, serving as the Girls Unit Leader. In this role, she provides care and guidance to the campers, administers medication and supports the counselors and camp director. Nichole also helps raise funds to provide this experience at no cost to each of the kids who attend Camp Oo-U-La. Annually, the camp supports an average of 95 campers who are cared for by 120 volunteers, many of whom are former camp attendees themselves.
Our Commitment to U.S. Military Veterans
We honor and thank all who serve our country, and we believe in hiring military veterans. We have a long-standing commitment to fairness and equal opportunity. It is evident in how we do business, how we interact with each other and how we develop our most important asset — our people. Click here to learn more about Wendy's partnership with Veterans Advantage.