St. Augustine, Fla. (Aug. 20, 2019) – People can let their appetites do their giving while supporting the Betty Griffin Center in Florida by dining at any of the seven Columbia locations in Florida during the entire month of September for lunch or dinner during the 22nd Annual Columbia Restaurant Community Harvest program.
“We’re very pleased that Columbia restaurant has selected Betty Griffin Center as a beneficiary of this fun, annual event that translates into support for us and many other worthwhile nonprofit organizations throughout the state,” said Betty Griffin Center CEO Joyce Mahr.
Through the Community Harvest, The Columbia donates 5 percent of all guests’ September lunch and dinner checks to the charitable organizations chosen by their customers.
The Columbia Community Harvest takes place in all of the Columbia locations including the St. Augustine restaurant, located at 98 St George St. in the Olde Town area, along with its restaurants in Ybor City in the historic district of Tampa, St. Armands Circle in Sarasota, Sand Key on Clearwater Beach, Central Florida’s Town of Celebration, the Columbia Cafe on the Riverwalk in Downtown Tampa at the Tampa Bay History Center and the Columbia Restaurant Cafe at Tampa International Airport. All Columbia locations are open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. For more information, see www.ColumbiaRestaurant.com
“We started this program in 1998 as a way to help many of the worthy non-profit groups that are so important to our communities,” said 4th generation family member and president Richard Gonzmart. “We thought the best way to do this was by letting our customers get involved in selecting the organizations. The process is simple. They just put a check mark next to one of the charitable organizations listed on a form we provide. They turn it in to their server. We do the rest…and donate 5 percent to the charity.”
Over the past 21 years, the Columbia Restaurant Community Harvest has donated more than $2.4 million to non-profit organizations throughout Florida.
The original Columbia Restaurant was founded in Tampa’s Historic Ybor City in 1905 by Cuban immigrant Casimiro Hernandez, Sr., and is now Florida’s oldest restaurant. All Columbia locations are owned and operated by 4th and 5th generation members of the founding family except for Columbia Restaurant Cafe at Tampa International Airport, which is operated in partnership with HMSHost. Follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Please see www.ColumbiaRestaurant.com for more information.