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Burger King franchisee partners with Red Cross for emergency response efforts

August 28, 2012

Colorado-based Ocedon Burger King Restaurants has donated $5,000 to the American Red Cross' Colorado disaster response fund to aid in the recovery of this summer's wildfires.

"Our team did an amazing job raising funds to donate to the American Red Cross. Many of our employees' homes were affected by the recent wildfires, so this effort was near and dear to us. We wanted to help and do our part to take care of our community," said franchisee Elena Donahue.

Many of the group's Burger King restaurants are also on call 24 hours to assist in food donations during emergencies. For example, following the fatal movie theater shootings in Aurora, Colo., Bruce Zurek, Ocedon's president of Operations, received a call from the American Red Cross to help.

"They were setting up an Emergency Operations Center and I coordinated with our team to donate food and feed about 150 people including families and emergency responders." Zurek said.

Donahue is actively involved with the American Red Cross where she has served on the board of directors for the Colorado Chapter. She has also served as chair of the Clara Barton Society, Disaster Response and is a founding member of the Colorado Chapter's Tiffany Circle; an executive leaders' philanthropic arm of the Red Cross.

First becoming a Red Cross volunteer in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina, Donahue deployed to Mississippi where she supervised a kitchen serving 18,000 meals a day, as well as driving and managing Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) crews.

The Burger King Colorado franchisees began a partnership with the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter in 2007 and provided the Red Cross with a gift of $55,000 to purchase a new Mobile Feeding Vehicle. This gift allows the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter to better respond to the needs of those affected by disaster and to be ready around the clock. The vehicle is equipped as a mobile feeding unit with the ability to feed hundreds of people during disasters.

OCEDON and its various entities owns and operates 52 Burger King restaurants, 23 of which are in Colorado, including Denver, Aurora, Pueblo, Canon City, Colorado Springs, Woodland Park, Greeley, Littleton, Longmont, Firestone, Loveland and Sterling.

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