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SOS recruiting restaurants for Dine Out

By Molly Gise

WASHINGTON (April 20, 2009) Share Our Strength is rallying restaurants to participate in its second annual Great American Dine Out to raise money to fight childhood hunger.

Last year’s event featured about 4,000 restaurants and raised more than $500,000. Restaurants have until Sept. 1 to register for this year’s Dine Out, which takes place Sept. 20-29. So far, more than 1,500 restaurants have registered, SOS officials said.

Participating restaurants choose how they want to contribute to the cause, from donating a set percentage of sales to creating special dinner menus or promotions, said Cate Puzo, a spokeswoman for Share Our Strength.

“I think that flexibility, particularly in a year when business is tough, is part of [Dine Out’s] appeal,” Puzo said.

The organization saw a wide variety of promotions during last year’s inaugural Dine Out. Participating Captain D’s restaurants donated 1 percent of sales for one day, raising $15,000, for example, while Lone Star Steakhouse sold coupons with a bounce-back offer that raised $16,000.

Many restaurants last year put their marketing teams to work to develop their own campaigns for the Dine Out, Puzo said. Last year, Legal Seafood centered its promotion on sales of the chain’s Boston Cream Pie, and trained servers to speak to guests about the fundraiser. As a result, sales of the dessert, which went to Share Our Strength, jumped more than 50 percent during the Dine Out week.

Share Our Strength described today’s need for food assistance throughout the country as “the highest it’s been in a generation.”

“We were heartened by the generosity and commitment of restaurant diners and the restaurant industry last year,” said Billy Shore, co-founder of Share Our Strength. “Our hope is to continue this program every year until every child in America has access to nutritious food where they live, learn and play.”

Puzo said Share Our Strength is on pace to sign up as many restaurants as it did last year and that more aggressive recruiting for independent restaurants would begin in June.

Among the operators already on board are 285 Captain D’s units; 275 McAlister’s Deli locations; The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif.; The Dolce Group, a Los Angeles-based operator of restaurants and nightclubs; and several restaurants in Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group in New York.

Restaurants can learn more about participating in the Great American Dine Out by visiting http://www.greatamericandineout.org.

Contact Molly Gise at mgise@nrn.com.