Long Island City, NY —The Halal Guys, the popular street-food vendor turned worldwide franchise, who have fans of their scrumptious chicken and gyro over rice flocking to their two restaurants and four carts throughout NYC, ten franchise restaurants nationwide, and with plans underway to open approximately 335 new franchise locations around the world, today presented a gift of $30,000 to the LaGuardia Community College Foundation.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="780.0"] The Halal Guys presents a gift of $30,000 to LaGuardia Community College President Gail O. Mellow[/caption]

They were joined by representatives of their franchise partner company, Fransmart, which underwrote the gift to LaGuardia as part of a celebration for closing an international deal to expand The Halal Guys franchise to South Korea.

This is the third gift that The Halal Guys have given to LaGuardia—in 2013 they gave $6,000; last year, they gave $7,000. The gifts support The Halal Guys Scholarship Fund at LaGuardia, which was established in 2013 and gives full-time students in good academic standing $1,000 for two semesters of studies. Thus far, their support has gone to more than eight LaGuardia students.

“The Halal Guys scholarship allowed me to complete my final semester at LaGuardia,” said Adeline Romero, who graduated from LaGuardia Community College with a 3.85 GPA last semester, and is now studying political science at John Jay, with plans to pursue a career in public policy and advocacy. “The Halal Guys scholarship lightened my financial burden and allowed me to focus on my last class load. The generosity extended to me by The Halal Guys and LaGuardia has inspired me to give back to the community. I hope to pay it forward one day and help other students achieve their goals.”

“The Halal Guys are the very best friends our college can have,” said LaGuardia Community College President Gail O. Mellow. “They have been unwavering in their support of our students, and this very generous gift from their partner, Fransmart, will ease the financial stress of many of our students.”

The Halal Guys have, for many years, operated a cart outside the LaGuardia Community College campus, and a friendship between a faculty member and Hesham Hegazy, The Halal Guys’s Director of Business and Brand Development, spurred their support of the college.

“When my friend, engineering professor Yasser Hassebo, told me about the students in his classes who were working very hard to excel in their studies, while struggling to make ends meet and also balancing work and family obligations, I was moved to help out,” said Mr. Hegazy. “LaGuardia Community College students, faculty, and staff have been loyal supporters of our food cart on their campus, and so it felt right to give back by establishing The Halal Guys Scholarship Fund.”

“We’re grateful to Dan Rowe of Fransmart, for making this gift that marks our expansion to South Korea,” said Mohamed Abouelenein, president and co-founder of The Halal Guys. “Three of my children studied at LaGuardia Community College, and all had excellent experiences—they enjoyed their time here and were very well prepared for the next chapters of their education—transferring to four-year schools. Through my children, I know the value of this college first-hand, and so I’m very pleased that we’re able to support it with this scholarship fund.”

Abdelbaset Elsayed and Ahmed Elsaka, co-founders of The Halal Guys with Mr. Abouelenein, attended the check presentation at LaGuardia Community College. Two Halal Guys Scholars at LaGuardia attended as well.