On March 21, 2012, The America Reads*America Serves Program, a
program that has been a part of the St. John’s University’s
devotion to service since its inception in the fall of 1997,
collaborated with Krista Bueti, Marketing Manager for Applebee’s
Restaurants, to establish its first fundraising event. Kelly
Baierlein, Team Leader of READ (Role Models of Excellence and
Determination), worked diligently with her team members to
brainstorm different ways of raising money for the newly
restructured program under the supervision of Charisse Willis,
Director, and Alexandra Foukalas, Assistant Director.
Applebee’s “Dining to Donate” opened its doors for the AR*AS
Family and friends. With the presentation of a specially
designed flyer, Applebee’s donated 10% of every bill to our
program. AR*AS dined at four locations: Fresh Meadows,
Bayside, Astoria, and Brooklyn. This was an all-day event, which
was convenient for the team members, families, and friends to
attend because of their busy schedules. This was a great
bonding event, and the turnout was amazing. Famous for its
motto, “Enjoy a meal that is filling…and fulfilling”, we raised
over $300.00 for the day.
The money that was raised was used to support one of our own
workers, Elizabeth Aguilar. We donated a generous gift of $100.00
to the New York Road Runners and Team for Kids. Elizabeth
will be running in the 2012 ING New York City Marathon with Team
for Kids this coming fall. This inspiring program works with
children in underserved communities in New York City, across the
United States, and in Africa. Today, an entire generation of
children is growing up without the physical, emotional and academic
benefits that sports provide. At a time of unprecedented
reductions in public education funding and with a childhood obesity
crisis of staggering proportions, their youth programs provide the
best, and in many cases the only, way for inner-city children to
engage in regular physical activity. For more information,
please visit www.nyrrf.org or
donate to Team for Kids at www.TFK.worldwide.org.
In addition to providing support outside, AR*AS provided support
within its own structure by designing its first program t-shirt for
the team members. We could finally market our efforts through
exposure within the community and spread awareness of the work that
we do. Jorge Hernandez, Team Leader of Totally Notorious
Tutors, stated, “Our shirt really made it possible to strike up
conversation with people who asked what we are about. It also
gave us an identity that we could wear with pride and
purpose.”
The Applebee’s fundraiser was a win-win for all, and we are
extremely excited to see the event grow in the upcoming
years.
- Kelly Baierlein, Team Leader 2011-2012