The Lee County Soup Kitchen, Meals on Wheels, Faith in Action and Hand & Hearts Montessori Preschool - Press releases and special events
LongHorn Steakhouse to feed hungry families on Thanksgiving
2Nov2009 Filed under: General Info Author: mcreative
November 2, 2009 (FORT MYERS, FL) – As the Managing Partner of LongHorn Steakhouse of Ft. Myers, Stephen King can’t bear to think of families going hungry, especially during the holidays.
That is why he has planned to open his restaurant in South Fort Myers on November 26, specifically to feed local families who are struggling to afford a nutritious holiday meal this Thanksgiving.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the LongHorn Steakhouse located at 13701 South Tamiami Trail in Fort Myers is planning two full capacity seatings for families who would otherwise be without a hot holiday meal. The restaurant seats 215 guests per seating and each guest will receive a full-service holiday dinner including turkey, stuffing, potatoes, green beans and pumpkin pie and more.
“One of our core values at LongHorn Steakhouse is that we contribute positively to our community and this is a way for us to give back to those in need during the holiday season,” said King.
LongHorn Steakhouse management and staff will be volunteering their time for this Thanksgiving event.
“We want to make it a comfortable atmosphere for local families who would not otherwise enjoy a holiday meal,” King added. “This is so meaningful for our team members to participate in. Giving our time and talents is the best way for us to help our community.”
LongHorn is working with Community Cooperative Ministries, Inc. (CCMI) to help identity eligible families for this holiday meal. CCMI’s Family Services Department works with families to help provide emergency groceries and social services as well as assistance with food stamps and tax programs.
CCMI is the umbrella agency for the Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry, Meals on Wheels, Senior Transportation, the Montessori Preschool of Dunbar and Family and Homeless Services.
“Even more of our community neighbors are struggling this year due to loss of jobs and the economy,” Sarah Owen, CEO of CCMI. “Many of those who have lost jobs have exhausted their savings and this holiday season is going to be especially rough. What Stephen and Longhorn are doing for the “new hungry” is such a wonderful way to help us reach out to our community neighbors and it’s really going to mean a lot to those hungry families on Thanksgiving.”
Eligible families will be admitted by ticket only. The meal will not be open to the general public or for walk-ins. For more information, contact CCMI at 332-7687.
CCMI serves Fort Myers and the greater Lee County area, including Bonita Springs, Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres. The Soup Kitchen serves a noontime meal six days a week to men, women, and children. In addition, CCMI prepares and delivers nutritious packaged meals and beverages for the homebound hungry, offers a food pantry and mobile food pantries that provide emergency groceries to families in need, serves two nutritious meals a day for the children in their Montessori Preschool and oversees a backpack program for local schoolchildren who would otherwise receive little to no food on weekends.
More than 25 years after opening its first restaurant in Atlanta, today LongHorn Steakhouse operates more than 300 restaurants in 29 states. LongHorn is a division of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI), the world’s largest full-service restaurant operating company. For more information about LongHorn, please visit www.longhornsteakhouse.com.
About CCMI
Community Cooperative Ministries (CCMI) was incorporated in 1984, and has long been a driving force in the Fort Myers community, providing food to homeless and nearly homeless, as well as emergency groceries and affordable childcare to the working poor. In July of 2006 the agency expanded its mission and outreach to Lee County by merging with agencies that had historically provided home delivered meals to the homebound hungry (Meals on Wheels), and transportation services to the frail elderly (Faith In Action) and The Soup Kitchen. This merger created an agency that is able to provide comprehensive, unduplicated services to the homeless, nearly homeless, homebound, seniors and children more effectively, more efficiently and with greater compassion than at any other time in the former agencies histories.