National Restaurant Association Seeks Examples of Outstanding Community Service for 2013 Restaurant Neighbor Award

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Oct 18, 2012, 11:00 ET

National Restaurant Association encourages restaurants and their patrons to nominate outstanding philanthropic contributors online and on social media

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Restaurants' charitable contributions are estimated to up to $3 billion annually, and more than nine out of 10 restaurants are actively involved in community service. To recognize these efforts, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) encourages the nation's nearly one million restaurants to apply for its 2013 Restaurant Neighbor Award. The NRA is also accepting nominations from individuals who have seen first-hand how restaurants support their communities, including patrons and employees.

The NRA and Restaurant Neighbor Award founding partner American Express developed the award to raise awareness about the restaurant industry's contributions in local communities. Application/nomination forms are accepted online at Restaurant.org/Community until January 7, 2013. The NRA will also accept nominations through its social media channels, including Facebook and Twitter.

"Restaurateurs and their employees are heroes in local communities from coast to coast, but often don't get the recognition they deserve – we are trying to change that," said Dawn Sweeney, National Restaurant Association President and CEO. "For the 15th year, we are recognizing their tremendous efforts and celebrating the ways in which they support their communities with our Restaurant Neighbor Award. We look forward to continue learning about all the great things our industry is doing, both from restaurants themselves and from the people they support."

The annual Restaurant Neighbor Award is presented to restaurants that exemplify the industry's community support and philanthropic spirit. Four national winners will each receive a $5,000 contribution to their charitable projects. The national winners will be presented the awards in Washington, D.C., in April 2013, and be recognized on the NRA's website.

The Restaurant Neighbor Award honors charitable contributions in four categories (small business, mid-size business, large business/national chain, and Cornerstone Humanitarian). Each participating state restaurant association will select winners in their respective states that will be in the running for the national award. The state winners will also be recognized on the NRA's website.

For more information on the Restaurant Neighbor Award and to see the stories of last year's winners, visit Restaurant.org/Community.

Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 970,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of nearly 13 million employees. We represent the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocate on its behalf. We operate the industry's largest trade show (NRA Show May 18-21, 2013, in Chicago); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF's ProStart, including the National ProStart Invitational April 19-21, 2013, in Baltimore, Md.); as well as the Kids LiveWell program promoting healthful kids' menu options. For more information, visit www.restaurant.org and find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants, Facebook and YouTube.