Popular Restaurants Providing Food for
FHFH Fundraising Events

Where will we hold the event? Who will cater the event? These are two of the most basic (and expensive) questions that need to be answered when planning a fundraising event. Fortunately FHFH coordinators are finding that with a little work, a free or low-cost facility—such as a church banquet hall—can be found to hold just about any event. The same can’t be said for the food. Or can it…?

Good food can make just about any event a more successful event! Local FHFH coordinators have discovered that a number of popular restaurants are willing to help when asked. Outback Steakhouse actually encourages their restaurants to include charitable events in their schedules and in their budgets each year. Last year the Western Hills Outback of Cincinnati Ohio donated and served lunch at a sporting clays charity shoot benefiting Southern Indiana FHFH. In Maryland, the Hagerstown Outback Steakhouse donated and served an entire meal to 250 people at an FHFH fundraising banquet last September. Those who attended the event enjoyed steak, chicken, rice, bread and salad the Outback way—hardly the typical menu for a charity banquet!

In Georgia the Bartow-Gordon FHFH program gathered a variety of donated and discounted food from area restaurants to provide a dinner buffet at their fundraising banquet earlier this year. The local Red Lobster, Chick-fil-A, Ryan’s and Fire Mountain restaurants all participated. Donating food for a charitable fundraiser is a great form of publicity for any restaurant. Hopefully these events will serve as models for new fundraising partnerships between FHFH programs and local restaurants nationwide!