Restaurant chain gives boost to

Portland Habitat for Humanity

   PORTLAND — The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina has brought the issue of poverty and poverty housing to the forefront of the news. It has also created awareness in local communities across America that poverty housing is an epidemic in their own backyards. Last month, Romano’s Macaroni Grill restaurants took action by assisting Portland Habitat for Humanity.
    On Saturday, Sept. 17, Romano’s Macaroni Grill restaurants held their first Making Life Delicious fundraiser, donating 100 percent of sales that day to help build simple, decent, affordable housing in Portland. More than 6,000 Romano’s Macaroni Grill customers in the five local Northwest restaurants helped make a difference through having a great meal for a great cause.
   “We’re a locally-owned business that wants to give back to the local community,” said Barry McGowan, chief executive officer of Vancouver, Wash.-based Waterloo Restaurant Ventures, the franchisee of all five Romano’s Macaroni Grill stores in the Pacific Northwest. “We recognize that there are so many families living in poverty housing right here in the Northwest. Habitat for Humanity’s program provides low-income, hard-working families with an opportunity to escape poverty housing and realize the dream of homeownership. Their program offers a hand-up, not a hand out. We are pleased to support their work, and to help spread the word about their program to our employees, vendors and customers.”
    The Romano’s Macaroni Grill team members dressed the part, wearing hardhats, T-shirts and tool belts, and made sure that all the customers knew about the promotion and about Habitat’s program. At the end of the day, the Making Life Delicious fundraiser brought in $100,000 for Portland Habitat for Humanity – and helped thousands of people learn more about Habitat for Humanity’s mission.
  “Barry and the Romano’s Macaroni Grill team truly went all-out for this fundraiser,” said Steve Messinetti, executive director of Portland Habitat for Humanity. “Their donation will fully sponsor building Habitat homes for two Portland families currently living in substandard housing. Those families, and Portland Habitat, are grateful to Waterloo and to all of the Romano’s Macaroni Grill customers for holding and supporting this event. We also appreciate that Waterloo’s employees have come out for multiple work-days on site – helping to build the homes that they’ve financially made possible.”
   With the goal of making this an annual event, Waterloo Restaurant Ventures has already begun planning for next year’s Making Life Delicious fundraiser, with a goal of raising $150,000 to build more Habitat homes in Portland, Seattle and Boise, Idaho. “There are so many Northwest families in need of affordable housing,” says McGowan. “We’re doing what we can to make sure Habitat keeps building.”
   As a Christian ministry, Portland Habitat for Humanity’s mission is to create partnerships among volunteers, families and the community to transform lives and revitalize neighborhoods by enabling families in need to earn and own a simple, decent, affordable home.
   Portland Habitat for Humanity is currently one of Portland’s only providers of home ownership opportunities to families at 30 to 60 percent of the median Portland household income level. Partnering with the community, volunteers build simple, decent homes, which are then sold at cost with a zero-interest, 1 percent down payment mortgage to hardworking, deserving families who qualify for the Habitat program. Since its inception, Portland Habitat for Humanity has helped more than 100 families escape substandard housing and move into safe, decent, affordable homes. Read more at www.pdxhabitat.org