Dick’s Drive-In

“Those little change boxes have added up to big donations,” Dick’s Drive-In vice president Jim Spady said in a statement. “We want to thank each and every customer who has taken the time to drop their extra burger change into the Change4Charity boxes.”

In the 13 years since the Change4Charity program began, donations have gone toward a number charities, including Compass Housing, Family Support Network, Fare Start, First Place, Mary’s Place, ROOTS, Saint Martin de Porres Shelter, and Seattle Night Watch.

Through the program special donations have also been made to a number of disaster relief efforts. Top months for giving through Change4Charity have included Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in September 2005, relief efforts following the Haitian earthquake in January and February 2010, and aid for those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March of this year–the single largest month in donations, in which over $21,000 was raised and directed to Japan through the Seattle Red Cross and World Vision in Federal Way.

StandUp For Kids is a 100 percent donation-driven, all-volunteer-run non-profit organization that works to help homeless and at-risk youth in cities across the country. McMenamin’s hosted the first Charity Chowdown with the Seattle chapter of StandUp last year, with huge success – the inaugural event raised $2,500 from raffle and McMenamins contributions. This year the group hopes to raise $3,500. To help reach this goal, McMenamins will be donating 50 percent of all proceeds from food and beverage sales during the event to StandUp For Kids – Seattle.

Event information:

Along with the great food and drinks, there will also be a lot of raffle prizes to be won! StandUp For Kids – Seattle has partnered with several businesses, including our biggest supporters, Rosemary for Remembrance Spa and Red Mango, to provide LOTS of great raffle prizes for fans of StandUp for Kids – Seattle.

This year, we have an event goal of raising $3,500. The proceeds from raffle ticket sales will go towards the outreach efforts of StandUp For Kids – Seattle and the administrative costs that come with running a non-profit. StandUp For Kids – Seattle is a 100% donation-driven, all-volunteer run non-profit organization.

In addition to Rosemary for Remembrance Spa and Red Mango, we have fun and exciting prizes donated by the following businesses: Lindsey Lee Photography, Gregg’s Cycles, Woodland Park Zoo, Ride the Ducks, Groupon and Pandora Radio.

Bonus chances to win prizes go out to everyone who comes out to the event! Yup, the prize wheel is back!! Big thanks go out to FunRent.com for donating the use of the prize wheel for a second year in a row!

Raffle prize winners will also have a chance to win prizes donated by individual donors, which include manicure and spa gift certificates and StandUp For Kids – Seattle swag!

Five dollars gets you six raffle tickets, which can be purchased in advance through Brown Paper Tickets here. Check out scenes from last year’s StandUp For Kids Charity Chowdown at the Seattle chapter’s Facebook page.

The restaurant held a private dinner party celebrating its 60th on December 12, and invited 230 local influential non-profits, private foundations, artists, business leaders and politicians, who all are making a positive impact on the Seattle community, to attend. Focusing on the importance of community giving and generosity, the restaurant used the evening as an opportunity to “give a gift to the city”, a $500,000 Matching Campaign for non-profit organizations in which Canlis will match up to $500,000 in gift certificates purchased from the restaurant for donation to any non-profit organization in the city.

“Alice and I are so proud of our sons for continuing the Canlis legacy of community philanthropy and choosing to celebrate our 60th birthday with those who are making a difference in this community,” Chris Canlis, son of Canlis founder Peter Canlis, said to the crowd. “The people in this room are the revolutionaries—the influencers who are defining Seattle in a new way: by its generosity.”

“Generosity is not a financial word,” said owner Mark Canlis. “The Matching Campaign is the third leg of the stool: the model invites the people of our city to partner with businesses in order to support Seattle’s non-profit movement.”

“Every person has been given something they can be generous with,” he said as he introduced Canlis’ own giving campaign.

And that’s not all. Today, Friday, December 31, the 50 winners from the menu hunt are taking part in another local scavenger hunt, this time for a grand prize of dinner for life at the restaurant.

In the spirit of generosity, these participants will be competing for the opportunity to give this dinner for life away every year to a person or charitable organization that embodies the spirit of philanthropy.

The crazy-costumed menu finders are Tweeting their way through the hunt. Follow that here.

Aboard the 125-foot Virginia V, passengers may enjoy the sights and sounds of the holidays from the water, including the annual Christmas Ships Festival, and help to spread the holiday spirit to those less fortunate.

Started by a letter in 1976 written to Santa Claus from a child who missed out on Christmas, the Forgotten Children’s Fund is an organization that steps in to help those families who have fallen on hard times and receive little or no aid from other organizations. Families are referred by schools, churches, police agencies, and others. More than 1000 volunteers receive letters from families and then deliver upwards of 20,000 toys, books, clothing, blankets and other necessities at the holidays.

“We’re thrilled to receive support from the Virginia V,” volunteer Gordon Fouts, who has been with the organization for 35 years, said in a statement. “The Forgotten Children’s Fund is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the season in a unique way while helping families who aren’t receiving other types of aid. Through generous donations from community groups like Virginia V, we’re already buying new toys, bicycles, winter coats and food that our Santa Claus and Elf volunteers will distribute at Christmas.”

These three holiday cruises will take place on December 2, 18 and 23, and will depart from South Lake Union Park, 860 Terry Avenue North, aboard the Virginia V.  Details and ticket information can be found here.

Help get kids ready for the 2010-2011 school year. World Vision and Bartell Drugs are teaming up for the 7th annual “School Tools for Kids in Need” drive.

From the press release:

This three-week school supply drive is especially important as 58,000 local children could begin the school year without the basic school supplies needed to succeed. Basic Needs List suggestions found in Bartell’s “School Aisles” include:

* Acme Rulers
* Dixon #2 Pencils
* Bic Cristal or Round Stic Ink Pens – 10 pack. Blue or Black
* Elmer’s Glue – Glue-All or School Glue/4 oz. bottles
* 3M Scotch Scissors for Kids
* Avery Glue Stic/2 pack – Acid-free, photo-safe, permanent, washable
* Pentel Hi-Polymer Erasers – 3 pack
* Avery Poly Binders – 1/2″ or 1″ sizes
* Prang Crayons – 24ct
* Avery Hi-Liter Markers – Yellow or Pink
* C Leonard Erasers

All 58 Bartell Drug locations, including the Upper ( 1929 Queen Anne Ave N.) and Lower ( 600 First Avenue N.) Queen Anne locations are participating now through August 29th.

Stop in to any of Trophy’s three locations to pick up limited-edition cupcakes, featuring designs by some of the artists whose work adorned Bumbershoot posters and artwork over the past 40 years. The cupcakes will be available through September 6.

The Bumbershoot cupcakes sell for $3.50 each, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Send a Kid program, which partners with Art with Heart and Arts Corps to help send underserved youth to Bumbershoot with an accompanying adult.

“Sarah Brice and Bethany Juchem (both of Queen Anne) together collaborated on a black and white short film about Seattle Homelessness entitled, ‘Isolation.’ Bethany Juchem founded a non profit in 2009 called Help for Heroin, which is making steps to provide education to Seattle School Districts about Heroin abuse and is lobbying on a State Level to have the rehab laws changed for Opiate Abusers from 28 days to a more useful 90 days. Sarah Brice wrote a play entitled ‘My Seattle’ which has been performed by non actors in Pike Market over the past 3 months, every 2nd and 4th Sunday portraying the need to help and support our fellow Seattlites, Homeless, Handicapped, Rich or Poor,” Amarcotti said via email.

Humanitarian awards will also be given to Marcie Ayala from Ballard, Aimee Carpino from Capitol Hill, and Trin Ma from the International District. All five recipients will be awarded plaques acknowledging their giving, “even if on a small scale,” according to Amarcotti, at a ceremony to be held at Seattle Center in mid-July alongside an outdoor showing of two documentaries made by one of the recipients. (We’ll keep you posted as soon as we have the date and specific event information).

The Seattle’s Hope For Many Foundation’s website is still under construction, however Amarcotti says the organization is actively geared toward “helping businesses live up to their Charitable Potential.”

Walkers will get to choose between making two loops around the longer course, 1.1 miles, or the shorter course, .3 miles. The entire event will take place on the Seattle Center campus.

The Seattle Brain Cancer Walk was founded in 2008 by a group of committed volunteers and families, and has since raised over $400,000 for research, comprehensive care and clinical trials for brain cancer patients in the Pacific Northwest.

This year the Brain Cancer Walk has already raised $331,043.08. Online registration for the event will close at 5 p.m. today, Thursday, June 24. To register click here. For more information on walk-day, click here.

Spearheaded by Queen Anne’s own Frantic Foodie blogger, event organizer and all around food expert Keren Brown, the team of Seattle-area food bloggers will be hosting a bake sale full of treats of their own creation this Saturday, April 17 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Lower Queen Anne Metropolitan Market, located at 100 Mercer St.

The following local food bloggers will be participating in the event: Gluten-Free Girl, Cakespy, Danatreat, Not Martha, Fresh Picked Seattle, A half cup.com, Pink Bites, Salty Seattle, Bring to Boil, Cornichon, The Old Hen, Northwest Stir, Mirrormirrorontheweb, Satisfythecraving, The Flying Salmon, Floraandflying, MusicandCats, Seattle Weekly, Chelsea Lin, City Search Editor, PurplehouseDirt and Teaandcookies.

Each blogger will be bringing two dozen cookies and their recipes to sell at the event so that “Readers and fans will have the opportunity to taste the baked goods from their favorite food blogs,” according to Brown.

All proceeds will support Share Our Strength and the organization’s work to end childhood hunger in America, specifically through assistance and funding for after-school and summer nutrition programs. “Summer is an especially difficult time, because the children facing hunger in America, nearly 17 million children, will no longer have access to the school-based meals they rely on,” said Bill Shore, executive director of Share Our Strength, in a press release this week.

Metropolitan Market will be providing free parking for bake sale shoppers. For more information check out Frantic Foodie.