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�鶹��Ƶ AmeriCorps��members to be acknowledged��for their service��throughout the month of March

March 6, 2017– Throughout the month of March, Taco Bell Foundation will join forces with �鶹��Ƶ, a national education organization that helps students stay in school and on track to graduation, to celebrate���鶹��Ƶ’s AmeriCorps member Appreciation Month and the commitment thousands of young adults have made to help students in high-need communities succeed.��This year, 3,100 �鶹��Ƶ AmeriCorps members are serving more than 210,000 students in hundreds of schools across the country.

As part of a commitment to helping young people pursue their educational goals and career aspirations, the Taco Bell Foundation is sponsoring �鶹��Ƶ’s AmeriCorps member Appreciation Month in the cities of Baton Rouge, Dallas, Detroit, Miami and New Orleans. Throughout the month, Taco Bell Foundation and �鶹��Ƶ will celebrate the critical role these young adults are playing to keep students on track to graduate high school, prepared for college, career and life success. In these five cities, Taco Bell employees will participate in a variety of appreciation events, including a �鶹��Ƶ Morning Greetings at local schools, where they will join AmeriCorps members as they enthusiastically welcome students arriving at school.

Each year, nearly 800,000 U.S. students drop out of school, which dramatically diminishes their lifetime prospects and carries negative consequences for our national economy. �鶹��Ƶ AmeriCorps members receive more than 300 hours of training and serve full-time for 11 months, delivering research-based academic and social-emotional supports to ensure that students in their community succeed and thrive.

“These young adults work tirelessly to help students and schools succeed across the country,” said Allison Graff-Weisner, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer at �鶹��Ƶ “We are so grateful to Taco Bell for their commitment to help us show �鶹��Ƶ AmeriCorps members how much we appreciate their service in schools.”

�鶹��Ƶ’s AmeriCorps member Appreciation��Month��aims to inspire �鶹��Ƶ partners, schools and communities to celebrate these young leaders who are making��a��measurable��impact in the lives of children in schools across the country.

Taco Bell Foundation’s sponsorship of AmeriCorps Member Appreciation month at five �鶹��Ƶ locations is part of its broader commitment to the next generation of young people. Taco Bell Foundation has supported �鶹��Ƶ since 2014 to encourage students to attend and arrive on time to school every day, helping to ensure those students stay in school and on track to graduate.

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�鶹��Ƶ is dedicated to helping students and schools succeed. Diverse teams of �鶹��Ƶ AmeriCorps members provide high-impact student, classroom and school-wide supports to help students stay in school and on track to graduate from high school, ready for college and career success. A 2015 study shows that schools that partner with �鶹��Ƶ were up to 2-3 times more likely to improve on math and English assessments. A proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network, �鶹��Ƶ is funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service, local school districts, and private philanthropy from corporations, foundations and individuals.��

Taco Bell Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity that helps America’s young people follow their dreams and reach their full potential. Since 1992, the Foundation has helped more than 3 million youth across the country and has awarded more than $60 million in grants and scholarships, focused on education and career readiness. In 2017, more than $5 million dollars will be disbursed to 350 youth-serving organizations across the country. In 2015, Taco Bell and the Taco Bell Foundation launched the , a program aimed at empowering the nation’s next generation of dreamers, innovators and creators — those whose passions don’t fall into the conventional “academic” or “athletic” qualifying categories of traditional scholarship programs. In 2017, the Foundation will award more than 150 young people with $1.3 million in Live Más Scholarships.��