America’s largest premium QSR Italian chain supports nonprofit through Seeds of Compassion fund
With a mission to make a difference in the lives of those they touch – one breadstick at a time – Fazoli’s lives out its core value of “people come first” with a special donation to Children of Restaurant Employees (CORE).
Through the Seeds of Compassion fund – which was established in 2009 as a way to assist team members who experience a financial crisis or tragedy – Fazoli’s recently donated $10,000 to CORE to help those in the restaurant industry hit hardest by the pandemic.
Since the fund launched, Seeds of Compassion has granted more than $650,000 to Fazoli’s associates in need. Employees donate to the fund through voluntary bi-weekly payroll deductions of $1, $2, $5 or $10.
With the help of employees’ donations, the renowned, Lexington-based brand was able to allocate funds for CORE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing financial relief to food and beverage operations employees with children when the employee or their child faces a health crisis, injury, death or natural disaster. CORE serves all 50 states and Puerto Rico through grants based on need. The average grant is $2,600.
“Throughout the pandemic, the restaurant industry and its employees have been hit especially hard by temporary and permanent closures, limited dining room capacity and reduced operating hours,” said Fazoli’s Vice President of HR Dave Craig. “As essential workers, restaurant staff members across the country stepped up to service the general public during their greatest time of need. It is now our turn to give back and support restaurant employees. The CORE fund provides financial assistance to those most in need within our industry. We hope our donation is a catalyst that encourages others to donate to CORE so they can continue their incredibly important mission.”
To learn more about Fazoli’s, visit www.fazolis.com.
Fazoli’s: Fast. Fresh. Italian.
Founded in 1988 in Lexington, Ky., Fazoli’s owns and operates nearly 220 restaurants in 27 states, making it the largest premium QSR Italian chain in America. Fazoli’s prides itself on serving premium quality Italian food, fast, fresh and friendly. Menu offerings include freshly prepared pasta entrees, Submarinos sandwiches, salads, pizza and desserts – along with its unlimited signature breadsticks. Fazoli’s is a winner of FastCasual and Steritech’s 2020 Excellence in Food Safety Award and was named one of the “Top 50 Global Fast Casual Innovators in 2021” by Foodable, a “Top 200 Franchises in 2021” by Franchise Business Review, a FastCasual “Brand of the Year,” and an Entrepreneur 2018 “Franchise 500.” CEO Carl Howard was named among the most influential restaurant CEOs in the country in 2020 by Nation’s Restaurant News, was recognized as one of the top 25 industry leaders on FastCasual’s 2021 Top 100 Movers and Shakers list, and he and his team were recipients of the 2021 American Business Awards Gold Stevie Awards in Food & Beverage for Company of the Year and Achievement in Management.
