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| Darden Restaurants Foundation and
Darden Environmental Trust |
For more than a decade, we’ve invested millions of dollars,
millions of pounds of food and countless volunteer hours
in communities all across North America. We commit
1 percent of our annual pre-tax earnings to the Darden
Restaurants Foundation and the Darden Environmental
Trust, which contribute to organizations that provide
effective programs in four key areas:
- Arts and Culture;
- Social Services and Nutrition;
- Education; and
- Natural Resources and Environment.
We are particularly interested in helping fund programs
and organizations that our employees support
through their volunteerism. Strong communities are
created when employees follow their hearts and give
their time and energy to causes they care about.
Darden’s philanthropy programs allow us to further
enhance their efforts.
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| Promoting and Celebrating Diversity |
We are also committed to funding programs that foster
diversity, fairness and inclusiveness. We believe creating
meaningful improvements within our communities
requires everyone to have a voice. Only by bringing
together the skills, knowledge, life experiences and differing
perspectives of all our citizens can we hope to
create a lasting impact.
As part of this commitment, we created the Community
Alliance Program, which currently concentrates efforts in
10 major cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit,
Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Oklahoma City and Orlando.
Our restaurant directors and managers serve as
community ambassadors, keeping us abreast of community
needs and opportunities and strengthening Darden’s
position as a neighbor and employer of choice. Through
involvement in state restaurant associations and local
African-American, Hispanic and Asian Chambers of
Commerce, we also foster business development, networking
and mentoring, and partnerships with minorityowned
businesses.
Since its creation in 1998, the Community Alliance
Program has provided more than $6.8 million to over 400
community programs and organizations working to promote
fairness, opportunity and inclusiveness, including
scholarship programs, economic development events, and
local arts and cultural programs. |
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| Feeding the Hungry |
| Our Darden Harvest Food Donation Program is another
program that we’re very proud of. It provides a systematic
way for all our restaurants to donate food they cannot
use to food banks and other charitable organizations. At
the end of each day, our restaurant teams safely store
cooked food items that these organizations pick up and
use to create wholesome meals. Since the program was
piloted in 2003, we have donated more than 5.7 million
pounds of food to nearly 1,000 charities that help feed
the hungry across America. |
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| Disaster Relief |
The most notable examples of living our core purpose and
core values involve situations where our people simply
respond when need arises. Nothing illustrates this better
than our response to the devastating hurricanes that
occurred in 2004 and 2005 that affected hundreds of
communities and millions of lives, and which in many
areas involve recovery efforts that are still ongoing.
Time and again our employees volunteered to aid
fellow team members, restaurants and affected communities.
They helped prepare for storms, delivered food and
ice to rescue, shelter and utility workers, and opened their
homes to evacuees. In many cases, they did so despite
concern for their own homes and personal safety. They
saw beyond themselves and reached out to others.
Darden also participated in the restaurant industry’s
Dine for America effort and sponsored other events to
assist with disaster and hurricane relief. In fiscal 2006, our
guests and employees helped direct over $1.5 million into
the affected regions to help families live whole lives again.
Darden respects and cares for all the people we serve,
and that means being a good corporate citizen that acts
with a big heart. These are just a few examples of our
philanthropic and volunteer efforts. For more information,
request a copy of the 2006 Darden Restaurants Being
of Service Report or visit our Web site. |
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