Taco Bell® to Teens: Post Your Commitment To Graduate And Inspire Others To Do The Same

IRVINE, Calif., June 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Taco Bell® Foundation for Teens™, together with Get Schooled, today invites teens to take part in a one-of-a-kind project, "Yearbook Time! Upload Yourself into Times Square using Instagram." To participate, students are asked to make the Graduate for Mas™ promise to graduate high school, and upload their Instagram photo to www.graduateformas.com by June 10. For every photo uploaded, Taco Bell Corp. will donate $100 to its Foundation, up to a total of $1 million. Select teens will then have the opportunity to see their name (and photo) "in lights" as part of the world's largest yearbook in Times Square on June 12.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130219/LA62115LOGO-b)

Each day, approximately 7,000 students drop out of school – that's more than 1.3 million teens a year, or enough to fill 30,000 school buses¹. As an organization dedicated to teens – as customers, employees and future leaders – the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens recognizes that this gap represents a significant opportunity in furthering its mission to inspire and enable teens through core programs such as "Graduate for Mas," partnerships with likeminded organizations, and direct financial assistance for teens in need.

"This initiative is not only a way to reward the tremendous efforts made by students who have joined the Graduate for Mas movement, but also to give those students an opportunity to inspire others "" said Amy Kavanaugh, Executive Director of the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens. "We have been working with teens for many years, and they are telling us that they want a voice in the conversation about education and academic success. We are honored to provide that platform to them!"

The Times Square yearbook project coincides with Taco Bell®'s fifth annual national fundraiser, which enables the Foundation to grant millions of dollars each year to support local academic, career, and mentorship resources and experiences through partners like the Boys & Girls Clubs and Junior Achievement. Now through June 13, in participating Taco Bell® restaurants across the U.S., anyone who donates $1 in support of the Taco Bell® Foundation for Teens™ will receive a coupon for a free taco as a token of thanks.

For more information on the Taco Bell® Foundation for Teens™ and the Graduate for Mas™ program, visit tacobellforteens.org and graduateformas.com.

About Taco Bell® Foundation for Teens™
Taco Bell® Foundation Inc., also known as Taco Bell® Foundation for Teens, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation committed to inspiring and enabling America's teens to achieve mas through its programs, partnerships, and direct financial assistance. Every year, the Foundation serves more than 100,000 teens in more than 180 communities across the country and awards more than 300 grants and scholarships focused on education and career preparedness. Since 1992, the Foundation has awarded more than $42 million in support of more than 1,000 teen-serving organizations in the U.S. through customer, franchisee, employee and vendor-partner donations. For more information visit tacobellforteens.org, and find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TacoBell4Teens.

About Get Schooled
Get Schooled is a non-profit organization that directly engages and motivates students to graduate from high school and succeed in college. Get Schooled is the premiere education brand for young people – linking students with high quality, cutting edge resources and tools they need to succeed. Get Schooled has developed a track record of success because it engages with young Americans using the media, technology and popular culture that is an integral part of their lives. Get Schooled's work is boosted by partners like Viacom and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In its first two years, Get Schooled has engaged more than 2.5 million young Americans and has built a network of more than 325 middle and high schools.

¹ Alliance for Excellent Education. Nov. 2012.

SOURCE Taco Bell Corp.