La Granja Restaurants Gives Back: Peruvian Restaurant Chain Offers Scholarships to Florida Resident Students of Latino and Hispanic Descent.
(PRWEB) June 02, 2015 -- La Granja Restaurants, South Florida's favorite family-style Peruvian restaurant chain, has achieved tremendous growth and success during the past decade. This rapidly expanding conglomerate started back in 1993 as a modest little eatery in Aruba, where local love for its authentic and flavorful Peruvian food quickly grew. In addition to the home cooked, Peruvian specialties it still serves today in Florida, La Granja is just as well known for it’s devotion to Peruvian culture, which is steeped in tradition and primarily centers around family and community.
As a way to give back to the community and share its success, General Manager, Claudia Bartra, on behalf of her family and La Granja Restaurants, is offering academic scholarships to students who are Florida residents and of Hispanic or Latino descent, and who would like to take advantage of an opportunity to attend Palm Beach Community College.
This generous contribution to Florida’s Hispanic and Latino families is a valued endowment that will continue to assist these communities in achieving progress for generations to come. La Granja’s academic scholarships are a much-needed support, especially as the Hispanic and Latino populations continue to grow in the United States. The Hispanic community in Florida is one of the largest in the country, with less than half of its youth having access to a college education after high school.
La Granja Restaurants: Contributing to the Growth and Enrichment of Florida’s Hispanic and Latino Communities.
Continued help similar to La Granja’s scholarship contribution is necessary in order for the up and coming generations to have access to affordable, higher education opportunities in this country. Some astonishing statistics reflect how critical the need is for support in Florida’s Latino and Hispanic communities, and in those throughout the United States:
• The Hispanic population represents approximately 17% of the U.S. total population, and is expected to grow to 31%, or 128.8 million by 2060, according to the United States Census Bureau.
• Six out of every 10 Hispanics (62%) speak English, or are bi-lingual, according to the Pew Research Center’s 2013 National Survey of Latinos. Widespread bilingualism has the potential to positively impact future generations of Latinos, one of the fastest growing populations in our nation.
• Still, about 1/3 of the Hispanic population, (12.5 million) age 5 or older, do not speak English very well, or at all.
• Based on a United States Census Bureau survey on the current population in 2013, only 66% of the Latino population, age 25 and older had a high school diploma or GED.
• Only 22% of adult Hispanics had earned an Associate Degree or higher in 2013.
Also, according to the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, Hispanic students make up the largest minority population in public schools. As one of the fast growing minority groups in this country’s history, their continued higher education is essential to their ability to thrive, and it’s also vital to the future of the United States. In Florida alone, the Hispanic student population ranks 3rd highest in the nation. There are an estimated 692,000 Hispanic students enrolled in Florida’s K-12 schools, which is reflective of exponential growth compared to only 5 years ago, and will continue increase in the years ahead.
La Granja Restaurants: Higher Education Needs to be Accessible to the Hispanic and Latino Communities, In Order to Foster Progress in the United States.
In 1993, when Claudia Bartra’s father and family members founded La Granja in Aruba, they never imagined the overwhelming success that their vision would bring, or the impact it would have on a community they would become such a part of. This authentic Peruvian food empire that started from meager beginnings has since flourished in to a robust restaurant empire with more than 40 locations in Florida.
Ms. Bartra and her family believe that the United States is the land of opportunity, and the success of La Granja has allowed them to give back by creating academic opportunities for Hispanic and Latino resident students who wish to attend Palm Beach Community College. For more information, or to find a La Granja restaurant near you, visit: http://www.lagranjarestaurants.com/.
Office of La Granja Restaurants, La Granja Restaurants, +1 (954) 968-7988, [email protected]
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