Diversified Restaurant Group (DRG), a multi-brand quick-service restaurant franchisee and one of the largest franchisees of Taco Bell internationally, recently awarded $135,000 in Live Mas Scholarship grants to eight of its team members. The money is collected by the Taco Bell Foundation and specifically goes towards supporting the diverse educational aspirations of the youth working in the restaurants.

“It’s times like this that remind us why we go to work every day. We’re not just in the restaurant business. We’re in the business of helping people. Our organization is very proud of the opportunity to honor young adults in their pursuit of education and to uphold our mission of positively impacting the lives of our team,” says SG Ellison, President of Diversified Restaurant Group. “We are very excited to see and support their futures.” 

DRG recently hosted a Live Mas Check Celebration in San Fernando, California to honor 4 of the local recipients that together received $85,000. The Live Mas Scholarship application required a two-minute video describing your passion and how you plan to use it to ignite change. Scholarships range from $5,000 – $25,000 per student. The Taco Bell Foundation has awarded nearly $30 million in scholarship grants since 2016.

The recipients are: 

$25,000 Level

Cecilia Galvis Zacatenco, who will be studying Humanities and Social Science. 

Miana Martinez, who will be studying Education

Miriam Torres Sanchez, who is studying Advocacy and Human Rights at UCLA.

Erik Harsh, who is studying Psychology/Sociology 

$10,000 Level

Adriana Rocha, who is a biology major in pursuit of a career in Dentistry

Edosasere Amayo, who has biology degree from University of Kansas and at-tends Kansas University Medical School 

Anthony Mele, who is currently pursuing a degree in biological science at the University of Nevada Las Vegas

$5,000 Level

Evan Mertz, who will study business at Nevada State College 

DRG is committed to creating environments in which young employees across the country can grow and reach their dreams. DRG’s CEO David Grieve and his wife, Kathleen, sit on the board of the Taco Bell Foundation and spearhead fundraising ac-tivities. The most prominent fundraising initiative is Round-up which allows guests to contribute to the Live M√°s Scholarship by rounding up their order total to the nearest dollar.