You’ll find a lot of generous folks in the restaurant business. They’re naturally given to hospitality – getting satisfaction from serving and caring for others, as well as making everyone feel welcome and at home. This generosity extends beyond the restaurant threshold and out into the community.

Most restaurants are happy to support local organizations with a donation for a door prize, raffle item, silent auction lot, or a gift of food to an event. Gifts like this build a bond with customers and help the restaurants reach out into the community on a one-to-one basis. In my restaurant tenure, I was glad to give to local organizations. But I always felt better about it if I was asked by a customer while they were dining or by a regular guest. It’s hard to say no in those circumstances.

There are some restaurants who go beyond the dinner-for-two donation and find ways to broaden their reach in the community, make a significant impact, and strengthen the bond with their customers along the way.
B.J. Ryan’s at 57 Main St. and their sister restaurant Ryan’s Banc House at 16 River St. have their own foundation and sponsor an annual golf tournament. This year’s tournament, on June 1, will benefit a scholarship fund for a Norwalk student, Thanksgiving meals for needy families, and, in partnership with the Norwalk Police, the Annual Children’s Christmas Lunch. It is expected to raise about $14,000, with 100% of the proceeds going to the causes. I’ll bet they have some fun on the course, but there’s a great benefit to Norwalk as well.

Bill Rizzuto, of Rizzuto’s Restaurants, supports local youth and sports organizations across the state with his four restaurants in Stamford, Westport, Bethel and West Hartford. He maintains close ties with groups like Bethel Baseball Association’s Jimmy Fund and Stamford High School’s Youth Football. Each location has relationships with numerous local charities involving the use of the restaurants, donated food, discounts and outreach to customers in support of the charity’s event and message. These relationships are immensely helpful to the non-profits and smart marketing for the restaurants – a win-win.

At Amore restaurant in Stamford, 100% of the sales from a recent Monday were donated to the Susan G. Komen CT Chapter’s Race for the Cure. Now that’s commitment!

Restaurants can also band together under the leadership of regional organizations to give back to the wider community. Community Plates, as an example, serves as a hub between restaurants with excess food, nonprofits feeding the hungry, and volunteers who connect the dots by moving the food where its needed.

Kevin Mullins and Jeff Schacher of Community Plates

Jeff Schacher, the driving force behind WhenToManage, a restaurant management technology startup, saw the need, had the tools and know-how to get it going, and now is growing his successful idea into a national organization. With a 21st century approach to the age-old problems of wasted food and hunger, his web-based software connects restaurants with needy organizations and volunteers who pick up and deliver the food. Pretty neat!

Community Plates started here in Fairfield County, and has now expanded to New Haven, Columbus OH, Albuquerque, NM and New Orleans, LA. Their hope is to rescue and deliver the equivalent of three million meals a year system wide. They’re well on the way.

This system depends on volunteers and the software, but it also takes some money to keep it going. Food For All

Drinks from Bailey’s in Ridgefield

2015, their annual fundraiser. is coming up on May 7 from 6:00 to 9:00, hosted by Abigail Kirsch at the Loading Dock in Stamford. Restaurants, bars, and pastry chefs will be offering tastings of their signature foods, creative cocktails and irresistible sweets. At least 25 establishments will be participating including: Abigail Kirsch, Aji 10 Latin Cuisine & Pisco Bar, Café Madrid & Tapas Bar, Dante’s Restaurant & Bar, Fleisher’s Craft Butchery, Greenwich Cheese Co., Jax & Co., K is for Cookies, LeRouge Chocolates, Paloma, Strada 18, Vespa, Bartaco, The Fez, The Spread, Walrus & Carpenter and more.

The walk-around format includes complete access to all the goodies plus a food photography show and sale for $75.00 admission. It’s a great chance to meet chefs, owners, and mixologists one-on-one and taste their wares. Along the way you’ll get to know the Community Plates story and meet some of the people whose work contributes to its success. A tasting event like this is loads of fun and well worth the

Food from Walrus & Carpenter

tab, especially because you’re supporting the cause. For ticket information visit www.communityplates.org.

The next time you’re eating out, look around for information about the nonprofits the restaurant works with. The next time you’re at a fundraiser, whether in a school gym or an elegant ballroom, make note of the participating restaurants. The next time you’re at a kids ball game, look at the teams with restaurant sponsors. You’ll see that foodservice folks are giving back across the community.