Chick-fil-A has awarded more than $25 million in scholarship awards to restaurant team members to help them reach their educational goals and has recently awarded its national Leadership Scholarship to Desiree Ulmer from Dawsonville.

Ulmer received the $1,000 scholarship from Chick-fil-A franchise owner Tony Keller at the Dawsonville Chick-fil-A.

Ulmer is the tenth team member from the Dawsonville restaurant to receive the honor. She is studying music at North Georgia College and State University.

“Desiree is now part of a 35-year legacy of more than 25,000 Chick-fil-A restaurant team members who have received this scholarship as they pursue their educational goals,” said Keller. “She represents the hard-working and service-oriented attributes that characterize the more than 50,000 team members around the country. We are very proud of her accomplishments.”

Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy wrote a personal check more than 50 years ago to support the college dream of an employee at his original Dwarf House diner.

He formalized that support in 1973, just seven years after opening his first Chick-fil-A chain restaurant, by creating the Chick-fil-A Leadership Scholarship.

Since the Leadership Scholarship program began, the chain has awarded scholarships totaling more than $5.7 million in Georgia and more than $25 million nationwide.