The National Restaurant Association recognized several quick-service brands as state finalists for the 2009 Restaurant Neighbor Award. The award recognizes restaurants for outstanding community service.
State finalists from the QSR segment include:
- Utah Del Taco, Salt Lake City — Utah Del Taco raised $6,000 to buy phone cards for military personnel to help children call family members in Iraq or Afghanistan. Utah Del Taco donated 200 $25 phone cards to the National Guard base in Draper, Utah, and hosted a fundraiser for "Kids of the National Guard," a non-profit organization that provides support to military families and gives free meals to military personnel.
- Arby's Restaurant Group Inc., Atlanta — The company participates in the "National Community Fundraiser," an annual in-store event at Arby's restaurants nationwide. For the past 10 years, Arby's has asked customers to donate $1 towards Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies and youth-mentoring charities in the United States and Canada during a six-week campaign. Since 1999, Arby's has raised more than $9 million for the charities.
- Chick-fil-A, Atlanta, Cornerstone Humanitarian: S. Truett Cathy — Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy founded the Winshape Foundation in 1984 to "shape winners" by helping young people succeed in life. The foundation's eight Winshape homes provide safe and secure housing for children who can't live with their parents because of various circumstances. It also has a retreat center and summer camps and funds scholarships to Berry College in northwest Georgia.
- Culvers of Decorah, Decorah, Iowa — When the city flooded in summer 2008, Culvers cooked and delivered hamburgers to "sandbaggers"— volunteers who place sandbags on roads to keep floodwaters at bay. When a local girl was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, Culvers sold paper shamrocks to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The staff at the restaurant donated their own food to local food pantries to help community members who recently lost their jobs. So far, the restaurant has raised $3,000.
- KFC Foundation, Louisville, Ky. — After Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005, KFC launched the KFC Feeds charity to provide hot meals for people displaced by natural disasters. Since 2005, the program has delivered hot meals to the survivors of various natural disasters, including California wild fires in 2007 and flooding in Iowa, Missouri and Indiana in 2008. To date, the program has provided more than 87,000 meals nationwide.
- Morton Donuts Inc,. dba Dunkin' Donuts, South Weymouth, Mass. — Dunkin' Donuts franchisees Lynne McLaughlin and Sharon Holdcraft united 1,000 fellow franchisees to help raise money for the Jimmy Fund, dedicated to children's cancer research. The franchisees host the annual Dunkin' Donuts George Mandell Memorial Golf Tournament, now in its 11th year. The event raised $800,000 for the Jimmy Fund in 2008 and $750,00 this year.
- Dairy Queen, Minneapolis — Since 1984, Dairy Queen has raised more than $77 million for the Children's Miracle Network. Miracle Treat Day, the company's biggest single-day fundraiser, generated $4.5 million last year through sales of their signature Blizzards. Dairy Queen staff members also raise money by collecting spare change, hosting fundraisers and selling Miracle Balloons.
- Pacific Bell, Taco Bell, Cleveland — For the past 12 years, this local Taco Bell restaurant has been a supporter of the Cleveland Boys & Girls Clubs. They have donated more than $500,000 to the club through the Taco Bell Charity Golf Classic which raises approximately $50,000 annually. In addition to the golf tournament, they also hold an in-store promotion where customers can buy a "Star" certificate with the donor's name that gets displayed within the store. In 2008, the star program raised $30,000.
The NRA and founding partner American Express developed the Restaurant Neighbor Award to raise awareness about the restaurant industry's contributions in local communities across the country and to inspire other restaurant operators and owners to make even greater contributions in their communities.
