O'Charley's Inc, headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., announced today that its 234 company-owned and operated O'Charley's restaurants and 11 Stoney River Legendary Steaks restaurants, will donate 10% of online and in-restaurant gift card sales through June 30, 2010 to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee and the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
"The flood in Middle Tennessee had a devastating effect on our guests, friends, neighbors, and team members," said Jeff Warne, O'Charley's Inc. president and CEO. "At O'Charley's, our corporate philosophy is A Passion to Serve(R) -- to be a good corporate citizen and give back to our communities. Because the clean up and rebuilding of Nashville will take many months and millions of dollars, we wanted to find a way to raise money over an extended period of time, in a wide geographic area, and make it easy for everyone who wants to help to do so." The gift card donation program fits the parameters because it includes a 10% donation for all O'Charley's and Stoney River Legendary Steaks gift card sales whether they are virtual cards purchased online or traditional cards purchased online or in-restaurant. The full value of the card is not affected; O'Charley's or Stoney River, not the buyer of the cards, will donate the 10%.
"Now is the time for Father's Day, graduation, and birthday gift cards, so we have an opportunity to generate a generous donation that will be put to excellent use by two incredible organizations," added Warne. Both Second Harvest and the American Red Cross hit the ground running as soon as the flooding began and have fed, sheltered and provided volunteer resources to help thousands of Middle Tennessee residents.
Because of the volunteer spirit inherent in Tennessee, O'Charley's Inc. anticipates that many gift card purchasers in Middle Tennessee will give them to those who have lost their homes to the flood. Therefore, the company is offering a special edition flood relief design, Sky Falling Nashville Rising, which is available only in O'Charley's and Stoney River Middle Tennessee locations and online. Nashville artist Kate Hall originally designed Sky Falling Nashville Rising as a poster and donated it to Second Harvest of Middle Tennessee to use as they saw fit. When the O'Charley's/Stoney River gift card idea was conceived, she graciously adapted the design to fit the cards. According to Hall, "I was sitting at home, dry and unaffected by the record-breaking rainfall watching a live media report from a devastated Bellevue. Seeing the devastating footage roll, I felt helpless to really make a difference. What could I do in such a tragedy? The original inspiration for my poster came from a report by CNN's anchor Anderson Cooper. He said he was blown away by the way the city of Nashville hadn't missed a beat during the flooding to come together and help one another - Despite being underwater, Nashville was rising."
For more information, visit http://www.ocharleys.com/giftcards or http://www.stoneyriver.com/cards.php.
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