The Friendly Fundraiser, From Then to Now
The Friendly Fundraiser, From Then to Now
Since the beginning, doing good and giving back has been a crucial component of The Friendly Toast philosophy. We strive to be an important part of each community that we reside in. At the start, Friendly Fundraisers took shape by offering local charities the option to host fundraisers at our restaurants. Charities were welcome to use our facilities free-of-charge to conduct different fundraising events, with the added benefit of offering their donors delicious Friendly Toast food and drinks. Since then, we have adapted to expand our charitable efforts companywide, leveraging our locations to increase our impact.
Today, a rotating fundraiser takes place every four to six weeks in tandem with a host of special menu items across all of our Friendly Toast locations. At the start of each of these periods, each restaurant submits a local charity of their choice to be researched and vetted by our fundraising department. Then, one of these charities is chosen to be the recipient in association with that period's specials run. Once the charity and the accompanying specials have been decided, each Friendly Toast location joins together to donate $1 from the sales of both food and drink specials to the chosen charity. In addition, we have recently partnered with Tito’s Vodka to feature a rotating drink special using their vodka. Tito’s then matches each $1 raised from every sale of this drink special to be donated to the chosen charity.
We have been grateful to support some incredible local charities since the beginning of the Friendly Fundraiser, including: The Greater Boston Food Bank, The New Hampshire Food Bank, Music Drives Us, The Winter Walk, Rosie's Place, Piscataquog Land Conservancy, GLAD, The Vermont Food Bank, Community Servings, World Central Kitchen, The United States of Women, and the list goes on! Here’s a peak into some of the astounding charitable efforts that our customers have helped us to achieve.
GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders): $6,560 was raised from the sales of our food and drink specials in early summer 2022. Tito’s Vodka then matched the $1,684 raised in sales from the One in a Melon Mimosa special, giving us a combined total of $8,244 raised to help support the efforts of LGBTQ advocates and defenders.
World Central Kitchen: A whopping $16,092 was raised from this specials period and donated to the World Central Kitchen, which provides warm meals to the people of Ukraine, in the spring of 2022.
The United States of Women: Our most recent Friendly Fundraiser raised $6,726 to be donated to the United States of Women, which serves to amplify issues at the intersection of gender and racial justice and galvanizes organizations, public figures, elected officials, and everyday feminists of all genders to drive policy and culture change.
Throughout the years of our Friendly Fundraisers, tens of thousands of dollars have been donated to a variety of local charities, thanks to the contributions and purchases made by our loyal customers. We will continue to conduct these fundraisers in support of our communities and the original foundation of The Friendly Toast philosophy, to do some good! Stay tuned to see what charity is chosen next, and what delicious specials are on the docket!
Check out some of the charities The Friendly Toast has donated to in the past!