Community involvement is important to Applebee’s, a casual dining franchise under The Rose Group Management Company. To get involved, the Port Richmond Applebee’s is looking to begin a “Dining to Donate” program in which the restaurant teams up with local organizations to raise money doing what they do best: providing good food and service.
Any non-profit organization can call the Applebee’s in Port Richmond and ask for manager Bob Spargal, to get started raising funds for its cause. Mr. Spargal expressed his excitement for this community involvement initiative and took some time out of his busy day to explain how the “Dining to Donate” program works.
When an organization contacts Applebee’s with interest in participating in the “Dining to Donate” fundraiser, Applebee’s works with the group to select a day for the fundraiser. Applebee’s then prints flyers for that organization to pass out to whomever they want, advertising the cause and the event. When those people bring the flyers in to the restaurant on the chosen date, Applebee’s donates 10% of their total bill to the organization they are supporting.
“Let’s say the Philadelphia Eagles want to do something for breast cancer awareness with their team name on it, we would give them “Dining to Donate” flyers, they would pass them out to whomever they want, and then every guest who comes in to our restaurant with one of those flyers on the selected day, they dine and get service. We donate 10% of their bill back to charity,” Spargal explained, “it can be done for anything: school districts, baseball teams—it’s a good way to raise a lot of money.”
This is an excellent way to raise funds for local community organizations, because people are essentially donating by getting out, having a good dinner, and enjoying themselves. The more people that are given flyers and go to eat, the more money Applebee’s can donate to your organization.
“I think the idea is fantastic said George Stephart, who was enjoying dinner with his family at Applebee’s, “We eat here about once a month, so they’re getting our business anyway, but it makes me even more willing to stop by for a night out when I know that it helps out a good cause.”
“The Rose Group has always had this program, we just haven’t executed from Port Richmond, but we really want to get that done and start rolling,” said Spargal, “We’d like to start by doing one a month, and over the course of six months, I’d like to be doing one event a week.”
“It seems like a really generous thing to do,” MonikaVrabova said in the parking lot outside of Applebee’s, “a lot of these chain businesses come into neighborhoods and say they’re all about community, community, community… and then they aren’t involved at all. It’s refreshing to see a company putting their money where their mouth is… And that pun was intended!”
Applebee’s can also donate $25 Anywhere Certificates for their off-premise catering-style menu. Any organizations interested in taking advantage of these opportunities should call Bob Spargal at 215.634.4422.
“The Rose Group stands behind doing these things; give people a chance to get out and giving profits to charity,” Spargal said.•
