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Restaurant
Sponsors Designated “Charity Days” for Local Causes
September 20, 2007-- Des Moines, Iowa—
The Iowa Restaurant Association today announced that Court Avenue Brewing
Company of Des Moines was selected as one of two state recipients of the
Association’s Restaurant Neighbor Award. The award highlights community service
achievements in the Iowa restaurant industry. State winners then go on to
compete for a national award from the National Restaurant Association (NRA).
State and national winners will be recognized September 26, 2007 in Washington
D.C. at the NRA’s Public Affairs Conference.
Court
Avenue’s Charity Days
Court Avenue Brewing Company was selected for
the Iowa award in recognition of its ongoing “Charity Days” program. Each month,
the restaurant partners with a local charity to host a “day” for the
organization. The entire day’s profits are then donated to that group. Thousands
of dollars have been raised for nearly a dozen local charities through the
program including Central Iowa Shelter and Services, ALS Association of Iowa,
and the Des Moines Public Library.
In announcing the state
winners, Doni DeNucci, Iowa Restaurant Association president and chief executive
officer said, "Nine out of 10 restaurant operators actively participate in
community activities. We are proud to recognize some of the most innovative ways
that the state’s restaurants are making a positive impact. Court Avenue’s
program is a terrific model for helping multiple organizations in an ongoing
way."
Program Helps with
Funds and Awareness
Court Avenue Managing Partner Scott Carlson
said that the restaurant opted to create this program as a mechanism for both
raising money and awareness for local charities.
“We get continual requests
for gift certificates and donations to local charities,” said Carlson. “We were
always happy to help, but realized that by giving a gift certificate here and
there, we weren’t generating additional awareness for the charity itself. We
created Charity Days so we could both support the organization and allow them to
showcase their causes to the public.”
In fact, each Charity Day,
representatives from the benefiting group attend the restaurant’s pre-shift
meeting to brief the staff on the mission of the organization. In this way, team
members are able to answer questions about the charity of choice to customers.
Members of the organization are also onsite to answer questions throughout the
evening.
Court Avenue has the
following Charity Days scheduled in the coming months:
Tuesday, Oct. 16th – Great Outdoors
Fund
Tuesday, Dec. 4 – Central Iowa Shelter &
Services
State Winners Profiled
A profile of the national winners’ and all
state winners’ community service efforts will be highlighted in a booklet that
the National Restaurant Association will distribute in October, as well as on
the Association’s Web site, www.restaurant.org/community.
About the Iowa Restaurant
Association
Headquartered in Des Moines, the Iowa Restaurant Association is the professional
association of the restaurant and retail beverage industries in Iowa. In
addition to representing the industries’ legislative concerns, the Iowa
Restaurant Association provides industry training programs, and works to help
its members to operate efficiently, safely, and profitably and to promote
quality and professionalism in the industry. For more information, visit our Web
site at
www.restaurantiowa.com.
About Court Avenue
Brewing Company
Court Avenue Restaurant & Brewing Company (CABCo)
opened its doors in 1996, offering guests extraordinary American cuisine along
with fine hand-crafted ales. Dubbed “Des Moines’ Original Brew Pub,” CABCo has
received recognition as a top restaurant receiving numerous awards under the
leadership of Scott Carlson, managing partner. The restaurant and bar is open 7
days a week serving a full scale menu along with eight house made beers on tap.
For more details, visit
www.courtavebrew.com.
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Media Contacts:
Doni DeNucci, CAE
Iowa Restaurant Association
515- 276-1454
ddenucci@restaurantiowa.com
Jessica Dunker
Iowa Restaurant Association
515-
202-6786
jessica@dunker.com
© Copyright Iowa Restaurant Association 2006
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