In just over four weeks, Church’s Chicken and participating franchisees have raised enough funds from its popular Church’s Scholars Coupon Books promotion to provide 240 students with $1,000 scholarships. This year, the community-focused fried chicken brand started out with a goal to fund at least 210 scholarships, which it surpassed by 14 percent.
“Being able to help dedicated students fulfill their dreams of going to college isn’t something on which we place limits,” says Edward Brett, president of the Church’s Partners Foundation which oversees the scholarship program. “So this is a true ‘bigger is better’ scenario. The more money we raise, the more students we can award scholarships. It’s that simple."
Now in its fourth year, Church’s Scholars has been helping students with tuition and other expenses for attending colleges all over the United States—from Arizona State to Columbia University in New York and hundreds of institutions in between. The key source of funds for the program is the coupon booklets that offer deals at select Church’s Chicken restaurants.
“Education is what it’s all about,” franchisee Noor Samji says. “I love participating in this fundraiser because it brings good will to my restaurants. My restaurants get really competitive about the number of booklets they sell and get excited about the fundraiser because they know it’s for a good cause.”
Noor has participated in the fundraiser every year since its inception, and every year his customers are excited to help support the cause and receive some great deals in return.
“We’re always blown away by the tremendous community response to Church’s Scholars,” adds Brett. “It keeps growing every year, which shows you how much this program means not only to the students who receive the scholarships, but also our guests who want to be part of making it happen.”
The coupon booklets were available at participating restaurants for only $1 and provided more than $20 in savings on popular Church’s Chicken menu items and meals. All proceeds go directly to the scholarship fund and will be combined with private donations and grants to fund as many scholarships as possible.
