(Chattanooga, TN, October 20, 2006) The Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattanooga held its annual Leadership Conference October 20th at the Student Center of UTC for their teenage leadership participants. The leadership program gives teens the confidence and skills they will need to succeed in the outside world and works with participants to help them realize the importance education plays in their success.
This year's conference theme was "Why It Is Important for ME to Give Back to MY Community," There was a panel of community leaders on hand to discuss the importance of community involvement. Representatives from Tacala, LLC, a franchisee of Taco Bell Corp. were also on hand to present a $10,000 check to the Club for teen programs from Team Tacala Charities, the charitable foundation of Tacala.
Seventy young people were present at the program. After the completion of this portion of the program, the members toured the campus of UTC and see what college life is about. The Conference will continue at one of the Club sites for the remainder of the weekend with various speakers.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattanooga serves 2800 inner city youth at four locations. The organization has been serving youth of Chattanooga for over 50 years.
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.