Restaurants join effort for scholarships
A local nonprofit has teamed up with local restaurants to raise
scholarship money for San Benito County students.
Restaurants join effort for scholarships
A local nonprofit has teamed up with local restaurants to raise scholarship money for San Benito County students.
Nov. 8 is Hope for a Cure Day. Participating local restaurants will donate 10 percent of the day’s profits to the Hope for a Cure Memorial Scholarship Fund. Twelve restaurants are participating.
Hope for a Cure provides scholarships for San Benito High School students who lost a parent, grandparent, or guardian to cancer.
The effort is being administered by the Community Foundation of San Benito County.
“We’re really hoping a lot of people will go out to the restaurants,” said Mary Andrade, a board member. “The more money we raise, the more we can help these kids.”
The number of recipients and the amount of money they receive varies each year, Andrade said in a phone interview.
“Our goal is basically not to have to choose,” said Andrade, referring to the applicants. “We would like to award every student who applies.”
Hard Times Cafe is participating in the event.
“It’s a great thing that those involved have reached out to the community,” said Terry Woodward, owner of Hard Times Cafe.
Phil Barrett, whose Flapjack’s Country Cafe restaurant is also participating, said that all the restaurants joined for the same reason; to give back to the community they serve.
“Anything that our restaurant can do to be of help, that’s the job. We owe that much to our community. We owe that much to our neighbors,” said Barrett, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Karen.
San Benito High School is also raising money for the fund, according to Andrade.
Each club on campus will be given a box, she said. During the week of Nov. 5-9 each club on campus will be challenged to collect money for the fund. The group with the box containing the most money will be given a prize.
“I know in the past the high school has done very well,” Andrade said, “and they’ve been able to raise thousands of dollars like that.”
The fund is in memory of three women who died from breast cancer, Juli-An Rowe, Karen Flaherty, and Rose Arnerich, said Andrade.
“I personally knew all three of these women, so it’s a very special foundation to me,” Andrade said. “It’s our way of remembering these women who fought so hard and wanted the education of their children to continue.”
