Last year, in honor of Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), we launched our first-ever Latinx Employee Resource Group (ERG) – Live Más LUCHA! At Taco Bell Corp., LUCHA stands for Latinx United through Community, Heritage and Achievement. The group strives to create a community for Latinx employees and allies, celebrate the inspiring Latinx heritage, support development for Taco Bell Corp.’s current and future Latinx employees, and through this, continue amplifying equity, inclusion and belonging for ALL.
In just 12 months, they led several sessions during our year-long development series for Restaurant Support Center (RSC) employees, held toy drives around the holiday season to give back to local families, and they’ve built a strong partnership with Thomas House Family Shelter. Thomas House Family Shelter is a local Orange County (OC), CA non-profit organization that supports families with children who are at-risk and/or experiencing homelessness by providing a rent-free, safe apartment home equipped with food, supplies, and a variety of support-driven services and programs to become self-sufficient.
With Thomas House Family Shelter, they’ve volunteered several times to clean, paint and help rebuild homes for those in need as well as sharing details with RSC employees offering them the chance to donate items like décor, appliances, dishes and more. Not only that, but they donated 84 Xboxes, which was made possible by our parent company, Yum! Brands!
To celebrate this month, Live Más LUCHA, in partnership with Museum of Latin American Art (“MOLAA”), shared history through the arts with RSC employees, specifically Arpilleras from Chile. Representatives from MOLAA taught us that Arpilleras are a testimony to the lived experiences of Chilean citizens throughout the brutal 17-year Pinochet regime. Colorful textile works backed with burlap, they are intended to document the stories of women and their communities, denounce the cruelty of the government and bear witness to the human rights abuses carried out by the dictatorship. We were moved by what was shared through the art of Arpilleras and learned a lot about the Chilean culture and what their people endured during that time.
Thank you, Live Más LUCHA, for all that you’ve done to drive positive impact at The Bell® and in our local OC community. We can’t wait to see what you do to build on that success and reach beyond Taco Bell and southern California.
Special shout-out to the Live Más LUCHA committee members:
Audrey V. – Co-Chair
Jaime M. – Co-Chair
Javier A. – Community Leader
Enrique A. – Secretary/Treasurer
Richard L. – Development Leader
JC P. – Communication Leader
David P. – Founding Member & Sponsor
Liz M. – Sponsor