Donate as you dine

On Thursday, eating out becomes a gesture of support. Two national fundraisers will benefit Red Cross relief efforts and the survivors of food service workers who died in the World Trade Center.

By JANET K. KEELER

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 10, 2001

Eating out on Thursday this week could mean more than satisfying your appetite or socializing with friends after work.

Your $18.95 tab could help pay college expenses for a child of a Windows on the World prep cook killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. That $20 prime rib dinner might taste even better if you know that the money you spend is providing relief to an exhausted recovery worker at the Pentagon.

Two fundraisers that don't require you to do anything but eat out on Thursday are expected to raise about $18-million for relief efforts. You buy dinner, the restaurant donates the money.

The American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which offers aid to recovery workers, survivors and families affected by the Sept. 11 attacks, will be the beneficiary of the Dine for America campaign that's being supported by major restaurant chains, including Outback, Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Chili's, along with independent restaurants. Many restaurants are donating 100 percent of the day's sales, and servers are encouraged to contribute tips. (See story on Page XD for list of some participating restaurants).

Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund is the other organization that will benefit from money raised Thursday at mostly independent restaurants. About $5-million is expected to be donated from participating restaurants. That money will provide relief specifically for the families of nearly 200 food services workers who died in the attack on the World Trade Center.

"Right after the tragedy our hearts went out to all the victims and survivors," said Paul Avery, president of Tampa-based Outback Steakhouse. "Immediately our New York, New Jersey and metro area Outbackers set up stations and were cooking food for the rescue and recovery people. Then we started getting volunteers from other Northeast locations."

Food providers donated $1-million worth of food, and in the first days following the attack Outback was feeding 20,000 people a day in Lower Manhattan. Many of the city's restaurants also served and donated food.

"Chris Sullivan (Outback chief executive officer) wanted to do something big," Avery said. "He wanted to rally a group of restaurant chain owners to participate in an industrywide fundraiser."

Restaurants Unlimited, a Seattle company that operates mostly West Coast restaurants, had already put the wheels in motion, and Outback joined that effort.

"Our system has taken so much pride in having the ability to do this," Avery said. "We are all going to look back and never forget this terrible tragedy, but we won't forget what the company did to support (fundraising efforts)."

With more than 600 Outbacks in the United States, plus 33 Carrabba's, 11 Fleming's and nine Roy's, the Outback corporation alone is expected to raise about $5.5-million.

The Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund was formed by people who lost employees, friends and coworkers on Sept. 11. Among them: David Emil, owner of the Windows on the World restaurant complex on the 106th and 107th floors of the north tower of the World Trade Center; Michael Lomonaco, the executive chef who escaped death by stopping at an eyeglass shop on a lower level; and Waldy Malouf, chef and co-owner with Emil of Beacon, a midtown restaurant that became the temporary offices and gathering place for displaced Windows employees and the families of the missing. Malouf grew up in Palm Harbor and is a 1971 graduate of Tarpon Springs High School.

They mourn the deaths of so many plus what New York magazine once called "the Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World." Even to cynical New Yorkers, Windows on the World, with its 360-degree, 90-mile view, was a wonder.

"It was such a dazzling place," Karen Schloss, a partner in the public relations firm Schloss-Diaz, which handled Windows on the World as well as the Beacon, told the Record of Bergen County, N.J. "You could look around and see tourists from Iowa at one table, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening at another."

Windows on the World lost about 80 of its 450 employees. Among those killed were pastry chef Heather Ho, most of her staff and company comptroller Howard L. Kane. Many of those killed had survived the 1993 bomb blast at the World Trade Center.

The sky-high food experience included two restaurants and a bar, but it was not the only place to eat in the twin towers. There were executive dining rooms, along with places to grab a slice of pizza or a bagel with cream cheese. In all, there were 20 food service outlets in the World Trade Center.

Malouf said that the Windows of Hope effort considered joining Dine for America but decided to focus on raising money for victims and survivors in the food service industry.

"We've felt strongly that dishwashers, pot washers and prep cooks were not immediately benefiting from Red Cross and firefighters and police funds. We wanted to do something to benefit our own people without planning a huge benefit.

"All a chef has to do is open his doors and do business. A side benefit is that it will bring people back to restaurants."

Malouf said he's pleased at how quickly the benefit came together. The Internal Revenue Service okayed the group's nonprofit status in 48 hours, and lawyers volunteered to administer the funds.

"After Thursday, about half of the money will be given away in immediate relief," Malouf said. "The other amount will be invested for long-term fund availability for grants and scholarships."

In the World Trade Center food service departments alone, about 500 to 600 children lost parents or primary caretakers. It is not yet known the total number of children who lost parents in the attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Like Avery, Malouf is resolute in his belief that Americans need to do all they can to help those in need. But he also sees the signs of normality returning.

"Unless you live in New York," he said, "you don't realize how much of a small town it is. The sense of community is really strong. People are almost defiantly existing and doing things that they would normally do. They are definitely going out and doing things."

Twice is nice

Local charities need your support too, and there's no better time to eat out twice than Thursday, when the St. Petersburg Free Clinic holds its annual Hunger Banquet fundraiser on the same night as national restaurant-sponsored benefits for attack relief efforts. Bring your own bowl, spoon and non-perishable food item for a dinner of soup and bread from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at St. Jude's Cathedral, 5815 Fifth Ave. N. Cost is $5. For more information, call (727) 821-1200.

Call the soup your first course, then stop by a restaurant and eat a second helping of goodwill.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright