(Birmingham, AL, July 31, 2006) - Team Tacala Charities, the charitable foundation of Tacala, the largest franchise operator of Taco Bell restaurants in the United States, is awarding a $15,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Club of Central Alabama to help enhance program and recruitment efforts for teens. A check presentation event will be held on Monday, July 31st at 2:00pm at the Summer Program at the John A. Williamson Boys and Girls Club in Clay-Chalkville. The Boys & Girls Club of Central Alabama is one of 21 Boys & Girls Clubs in Tacala's geography selected to receive funding from Team Tacala Charities this summer.
Team Tacala Charities support is designed to help 13 - to 18-year-olds become productive, responsible and caring adults. This funding helps Boys & Girls Clubs develop teen-oriented programs that emphasize character and leadership development, community service opportunities and job skills programming.
The Boys & Girls Club estimate that as many as 1400 youth in the Central Alabama community will continue their involvement with Club programs as a result of the Team Tacala Charities program and outreach grant. The funding also provides resources and training for Boys & Girls Club staff to recruit more teens to participate in these programs.
"Tacala is committed to being the premier partner in the communities we serve by offering available resources to the Boys & Girls Clubs in our areas," said Don Ghareeb, President of Tacala. "Teens are the future leaders of America and we believe the Boys & Girls Clubs programs as well as staff attention provides teens with a strong foundation to grow and develop," added Ghareeb.
Since 2002, Team Tacala Charities has granted $90,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs in the state of Alabama. Team Tacala Charities has helped fund Club initiatives to provide youth with support, mentoring, job training, and counseling to develop leadership skills, character and values.
About Team Tacala Charities
In concert with Taco Bell Corp.'s national support of Boys & Girls Clubs of America through the Taco Bell Foundation, the mission of Team Tacala Charities, the charitable foundation of Tacala, is to promote opportunities for teens in our communities, through the support of organizations that specialize in the leadership, career development, character, and health needs of teens. As a related goal, Team Tacala Charities also hopes to inspire volunteerism among Tacala employees by promoting worthwhile organizations in local markets and by providing outlets for participation and involvement.
The primary fundraising activity for Team Tacala Charities is a program called "Round Up" which is generally conducted three times per year. Round Up is a two week program where Service Champions in each Tacala restaurant ask customers to donate their change to support teen programs. Funds collected through Round Up are made available to Boys & Girls Clubs in Tacala markets through grants for teen programs and services, as well as other club requests including facility and equipment upgrades. Since beginning its fundraising efforts in 2002, Team Tacala Charities has distributed over $700,000 to local clubs. In addition, Tacala has raised $1.1 million for the Taco Bell Foundation through a combination of canister collections and other donations.