Introduction

From the time Bill Darden opened his first restaurant, The Green Frog, in 1938, to the opening of the first Red Lobster in Lakeland, Florida, in 1968, he set the tone for the kind of company we wanted to be. Bill believed in being a good neighbor and did whatever he could to contribute to his community. As we have grown into the largest casual dining restaurant company in the world, celebrating our tenth year as a publicly held company trading on the New York Stock Exchange, we continue to build on Bill's legacy of community service and giving. It is this legacy that progressed through our former CEO and current Chairman Joe Lee, and will now continue to grow under the guidance of our new CEO Clarence Otis.

For more than a decade we've poured millions of dollars and countless volunteer hours into the communities in which we operate. Through the Darden Restaurants Foundation and the Darden Environmental Trust, our restaurants and employee volunteers working in partnership with our business partners and community organizations, we contributed more than $4 million to communities across the country in fiscal 2005.

As many communities struggle with limited resources and financial hardships, we seek out new ways to help. We are a restaurant company that prides itself on nourishing and delighting everyone we serve, and that definitely includes those in need. For example, since 2003 we have donated more than one million pounds of food through our Harvest Food Donation Program, to feed the hungry across America. If one pound of food serves one meal, so far we have touched about a million lives with this program.

We are also particularly interested in supporting the programs and organizations our employees support through their volunteerism. In communities throughout the country, Darden employees actively answer the call to get involved, give back and make a difference. We strongly believe our employees' volunteer efforts are critical in creating strong, vital communities and our philanthropy program allows us to enhance their efforts.

Telling Their Stories

Within these pages you'll find the financial information that tells you which organizations received Darden Restaurants Foundation grants this year. Though numbers matter, they can only tell you so much. That's why you'll also find stories about some of the organizations we've supported and learn how Foundation grants have enabled these organizations to do extraordinary work in their communities.

We strive to find organizations that not only support our Core Values, but also meet the needs of communities where we operate and relate to Darden's business interests. The Foundation supports and funds organizations that provide effective programs in four key areas:

We're also committed to funding programs that foster diversity, fairness, and inclusiveness. If we're to create meaningful improvements within our communities, everyone must have a place at the table. Only by bringing together the skills, knowledge, life experiences, and differing perspectives of all our citizens can we hope to create a lasting impact.

While we're proud of what we've accomplished in the past year, we know there's still much to be done. Working together, we believe we can continue to improve people's lives, enrich the wider community, and carry on Bill Darden's legacy of community involvement that has been the hallmark of our heritage for more than 65 years.