Published: July 02, 2009 01:47 pm      

Restaurant to use sales to aid troops

With many troops deployed throughout the world, the Fourth of July holiday is a great time to honor them.

This year, Applebee’s restaurants will give patrons an opportunity to enjoy a meal and assist the troops at the same time.

All 32 Central Indiana Applebee’s restaurants will host Dining to Donate fundraising events to benefit AdoptaPlatoon, a non-profit organization that attempts to improve the lives of deployed U.S. military troops.

“We usually do a Dining to Donate for a non-profit organization,” said Fabby Andrzejczyk, the marketing coordinator for Applebee’s. “We wanted to do it for the military for (July).”

On July 7 and 8, Applebee’s will donate 15 percent of food purchases to Army Platoon A-BTRY 2/29 when guests present a special AdoptaPlatoon D2D flyer.

With the money raised from these two dates, as well as from July 1 and 2, Applebee’s will send care packages to deployed soldiers containing needed items for survival.

Customers wanting to participate in the Dining to Donate event can request a flyer by visiting or calling any of the 32 neighborhood Applebee’s locations.

In addition, Applebee’s will offer customers a chance to send a “Thank You Salute” card to an active service member. For a $2 donation, each message will be sent directly to currently deployed troops.

“I think that will work to uplift (the troops),” Andrzejczyk said. “It will allow them to know that we are thankful.”

Each Applebee’s restaurant will also be creating a poster to hang during those dates, which will also be sent to the troops.

One of the restaurants that will be participating is the Avon location.

“Applebee’s is very community driven,” said David Kurzawski, the Avon Applebee’s General Manager. “We have some of our men over there. We are just doing our part.

“We are not typically very busy (on July 4). It’s not really a holiday for restaurants. With the other days, people are more apt to be in town. It is a very busy travel time.”

Applebee’s has three locations in Hendricks County — Avon, Brownsburg, and Plainfield.



ryan.palencer@flyergroup.com