Ampex Brands, a local Yum! Brands Inc. and 7-Eleven franchisee and owner/operator of Au Bon Pain, is celebrating its 11th annual National Day of Giving by donating more than 23,000 meals in communities surrounding over 350 Ampex KFC and Pizza Hut locations across twelve states. Economically disadvantaged students and families were given free meals by way of school events and homeless shelter outreach.
National Day of Giving was created by Ampex Brands CEO Tabbassum Mumtaz, an immigrant raised in poverty who started his career with an entry-level job at a local fast-food restaurant. Today, he owns more than 400 Pizza Huts, KFCs, Taco Bells and Long John Silver’s restaurants. In 2021, he purchased bakery-café chain Au Bon Pain.
Mumtaz believes in giving back, stating, “as you grow in your success, don’t raise your standard of living, raise your standard of giving.”
The company hosted school-based events near its Richardson-based headquarters, where local restaurants donated over 4,000 meals to students in the Dallas, Richardson and Plano Independent School Districts.
In Dallas and Richardson, Mumtaz and other corporate staff handed out free KFC meal boxes and Pizza Hut pizzas at E.B. Comstock Middle School and Forest Lane Academy, where an overwhelming majority of the student population are economically disadvantaged. In Plano, the company delivered meal vouchers to the district’s 500 students who are classified as homeless.
Beyond the Dallas area, another 19,000 meals were donated by Ampex’s Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut locations. Staff members identified their community’s most disadvantaged populations, and each location donated 50+ meals to local homeless and Veteran shelters.
“We are honored to serve our neighbors through the National Day of Giving,” says Ampex Brands CEO Tabbassum Mumtaz. “Many of our guests have weathered another difficult year. This is one way we lend a hand because even small gestures can add up to make a difference.”
