Menlo Businesses' Profits Support Children's Hospital

Every penny counts, and some of those pennies will benefit the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital on Thursday.

Dozens of local restaurants in Menlo Park, Los Altos and Palo Alto are donating a portion of their sales to the children’s hospital at Stanford that day. The hospital celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

The third annual Dine Out for Packard day will help provide the financial resources the hospital needs to care for young patients, do research, and maintain family support programs and community outreach, according to its website.

Almost 60 dining establishments are participating in the event, said Jose Gordon, director of development communications at Lucile Packard.

The proceeds from the day’s event go to support the Lucile Packard Children’s Fund, which supports services not covered by insurance to patients and families at the hospital.

It has received $22,000 in donations from restaurants from the first two years of the fundraising day, according to Jenna Martarano, community events manager, on the hospital's  website.

“I’m not in a position to be a huge donor, but I do feel one way I can give back is by helping to promote fundraisers like this,” said Kathleen Daly, owner of Café Zoe in Menlo Park. “It’s a choice. It’s a conscious, personal choice to want to give back in as many ways as I can.”

Twenty percent of the sales from Café Zoe from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day will benefit the hospital, according to Daly, adding that she will get the word out by putting it on her Facebook page and tweeting it.

Sprinkles Cupcakes in the Stanford Shopping Center is using its most popular flavor–the red velvet cupcakes–to raise money for the hospital.

“We’ve been doing a lot to spread the word, like posting on all social media sites and having a publicist working hard to make sure people know and are encouraged to come out and support the cause,” said Lillian Choi, store manager.

Choi said 100 percent of the sales of that particular cupcake will go to the hospital.

All participants in the fundraiser receive tax receipts, promotion banners and posters, advertising on hospital websites and “preferred restaurant status” for hospital executive staff, according to the hospital website.

But others chose to support the hospital for deep personal and community reasons. The manager of A.G. Ferrari Foods chose to sign up the store for the fundraiser because she grew up with a sister with cerebral palsy.

“I wish I could use my own money but since I can’t, I use the business to help,” said Cathy Ranieri, manager at A.G. Ferrari Foods. “I think growing up in this area we’re lucky to have a place like Stanford and Lucile Packard … my sister was in and out of children’s hospitals her whole life.”

A.G. Ferrari will donate ten percent of its sales of anything in the store from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. to the foundation.

“Every dollar helps to support both the care and research we provide for children and expectant mothers. It’s also important to help spread the word about the valuable resources we have here in the children’s hospital,” Gordon said.

Gordon added that it is a new fundraiser, so not everyone is even aware of its happenings. Roy Lave, executive director of the Los Altos Community Foundation said he had not yet heard about the fundraiser.

“I haven’t heard of it but I think Packard hospital is a great institution and I’ll definitely support that on Thursday,” Lave said.

To find a list of the participating restaurants, go here.