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The KFC Foundation awards $2M in scholarships to restaurant employees

Photo: The KFC Foundation

June 24, 2026

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The KFC Foundation has awarded a total of $2 million in scholarships to more than 300 restaurant employees across the country to assist with their education, according to a press release.

The KFC Foundation Scholarship program provides up to $20,000 for employees in the United States to attend an accredited four-year or two-year college, trade or vocational school, or graduate school. The program has awarded more than $25 million in scholarships to over 8,500 employees since it began in 2012.

"Education opens doors, and we're proud to help KFC restaurant employees walk through them," Emma Horn, executive director of the KFC Foundation, said in the press release. "Each scholarship represents an investment in someone's future and the incredible potential they bring to their communities."

Eleven students received $20,000 scholarships, a number that references the chain's traditional 11 herbs and spices recipe. Among the recipients is Taylor Podob, a shift supervisor at a KFC in Irwin, Pennsylvania, who used the scholarship during all four years of college to become the first person in her family to graduate with an undergraduate degree, debt-free. Podob will use continued support from the foundation to start the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at the University of Pittsburgh this fall.

In addition to the scholarship program, the KFC Foundation offers assistance programs focused on education accessibility, financial and hardship aid and community giving.

Celebrating over 25 years of changing lives, the KFC Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3) organization, has provided over $47 million to support and empower more than 18,000 individual recipients and over 4,600 non-profits.