Franchises Lend a Hand for Haiti

You won't see Papa John, Ronald McDonald or Jared Fogle on stage with Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift and Jay-Z tonight, but franchises are still doing their part to support the Haiti relief effort. Here's a rundown of just a few of the ways that franchisors and franchisees are coming to the aid of the island nation's earthquake victims:

• Yum! Brands (franchisor of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's, and A & W) is directing $500,000 from its World Hunger Relief program to help feed earthquake victims. Such efforts are nothing new to the company; the program has raised nearly $60 million for hunger relief organizations since its launch in 2007.

• Liberty Tax Service is partnering with Stop Hunger Now--a relief organization co-founded by Liberty's CEO, John Hewitt--to provide food and supplies to the quake victims. Donations are being made for every return prepared at participating Liberty franchises, and many locations are also organizing fundraisers.

• Burger King's charitable arm, the Have It Your Way Foundation, has donated $50,000 to the American Red Cross. The company's employees are also donating essential supplies and volunteering with local community organizations to help with the relief effort.

• McDonald's corporate is donating $500,000 to the quake victims, and franchisee Arcos Dorados, which owns nearly 1,700 restaurants in 19 Latin American countries, is expected to match that by donating 50 cents for every Big Mac it sells this week.

• All profits from coffee sales at Circle K convenience stores on Saturday will be given to the American Red Cross, and company-owned stores on the west coast will be collecting donations from customers, employees and supply partners.

• Choice Hotels, which just announced plans last week to open two hotels in Haiti, allows loyalty program members to donate their points to the Red Cross. Other hotel franchises offering similar opportunities include Hilton, Wyndham and Intercontinental Hotels Group,

• And since humans aren't the only ones affected by the disaster, Camp Bow Wow has launched their Helping Hounds in Haiti campaign to raise funds for the newly-formed Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti