By Stuart Brown, Executive Director, Arby’s Foundation

“What if?”

This unassuming question can unlock tremendous possibilities.

Recently, the Arby’s Foundation asked ourselves some ‘what if’ questions: What if we could support more than childhood hunger relief efforts? What if we could make a difference for our youth in a bigger, more holistic way? What if we could align with more passion points to fully engage the Arby’s entire organization?

Our answers sparked new inquires, insights and ideas. And so, this simple exercise became the genesis of a new chapter for the Foundation.

I am proud to share that we have expanded the Foundation’s focus to embrace a new belief statement:

“We believe every kid deserves to dream big and pursue their dreams with confidence.”

This belief statement is tied directly to our core values with three supporting pillars:

We love that this helps us tell a comprehensive story of impact from childhood and adolescence to the first steps that our high school and college youth take to start a career.

We love that this approach allows us to not only address the immediate need of hunger, but also the long-term need of opportunity so that the cycle can be broken.

And we love that this approach broadens our ability to engage leaders around the country who, while committed to ending childhood hunger, may be more passionate about education, mentoring, youth sports or leadership development.

You may be wondering why we needed to change. The Foundation’s fundraising – and subsequently our ability to make a difference in the communities we serve – has been growing fast.

But we thought we could do more. We thought we could be better. And so we took a leap of faith to ask ourselves the ultimate question:

What if we dared to dream big and make a difference?

This new expanded focus is our answer. The potential for impact is exponential, and I’m calling on the entire Arby’s organization to rally together and uplift this new chapter for the Foundation.

Thank you for your support.

Stuart Brown is the Executive Director of the Arby’s Foundation