The Cheesecake Factory: Nurturing Bodies, Minds, Hearts and Spirits
The Cheesecake Factory’s stated purpose is to “Nurture bodies, minds, hearts and spirits.” With that purpose in mind, every September during Hunger Action Month, our more than 35,000 staff members embrace the opportunity to collect jars of peanut butter for their local Feeding America food banks.
For the last couple of years our goal has been to collect 100,000 pounds of peanut butter—approximately three pounds per staff member. Last year our very generous staff members exceeded our expectations by collecting more than 180,000 pounds. This year they went even further, truly CRUSHING our goal! Through creative fundraising efforts and their own incredible generosity, our staff members collected 225,767 pounds of peanut butter.
To showcase their donations and their creativity, many of our restaurant teams also entered our Peanut Butter Drive photo contest. Once again, our staff members surpassed our expectations with their originality and embodiment of our company’s purpose. See above and below for a few great examples.
In addition to our Peanut Butter Drive during Hunger Action Month, on September 1, The Cheesecake Factory reintroduced our famous seasonal Pumpkin and Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecakes with a special $0.25 per slice donation made to Feeding America for every slice sold through the end of the year. Hunger Action Month seemed like the perfect time to kick-off this campaign—and a sweet complement to our staff’s generous support of Feeding America’s food banks.
*Alethea Rowe is the Senior Director of Public Relations & Brand Management for The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated. As part of her responsibilities she has had the pleasure of managing The Cheesecake Factory’s relationship with Feeding America since its inception in 2008.