Everyone knows Monical’s for the Family Pleaser, the Salad Dressing, and the Breadsticks (are you hungry yet?) but we wanted to highlight another reason why Monical’s truly does “Bring People Together”.
2013 continues our 9+ year partnership with Toys for Tots. Many people only think of Toys for Tots near the holidays. Preparation to pull off the toy drive takes all year.
Toys for Tots started in 1947 in Los Angeles by Major Hendrickson. That year, 5000 toys were collected in LA alone. Now the organization has grown to over 750 areas. In Kankakee County, Monical’s works with Herb Volpe, who is the local coordinator for the county. Herb handles distributing the collection boxes, coordinating volunteers, collection and sorting of toys. He works with over 70 businesses and in 2012, Herb and his team collected 11,733 toys, 859 books and 445 stocking stuffers.
Monical’s Pizza Restaurant in Bourbonnais is particularly successful with the toy drive. We spoke with Jon the manager to find out their secret. His answer: EMPLOYEES! Besides the generous Bourbonnais community, the Monical’s staff adds to the collection to help even more kids receive gifts on Christmas.
The Toys for Tots collection boxes will begin appearing in October. Monical’s is happy to partner with Toys for Tots again in 2013 and together with your help, we cannot wait to see how successful this year’s toy drive will be!
Charlie eats at his favorite restaurant on shot days. I took this picture on July 27, 2010 at Monical’s- 3542 N. Vermilion, Danville, IL.
Mommy gets spaghetti and Nana gets pizza so he’s all set!
The employees and customers at CVS thought this picture was just adorable. They said it belonged in a restaurant or a photo contest. All of our friends and relatives (as my daughter and I both have 8×10’s in our kitchens) say he should be a bright blue-eyed Monical’s Poster Child.
We just had to share this with you since it’s our favorite snapshot. Enjoy!
Monical’s Menu helps this Mom ‘Git-R-Done’ Growing up my elders always told me, “the older you get the quicker time goes by” and man, were they right! Like many working mothers I wear many hats and I have found, after having children, that time speeds by even faster. My daughter, Josephine, is 17 months old and my son, Gavin just turned 3 on February 7th.
To celebrate we had a party and of course this party had to have a theme, activities, prizes and not to mention a fantastic menu. The theme was easy, Disney Pixar CARS as Gavin is a HUGE fan! Decorations, no problem! Some handmade some store bought. Goody bags….check! Name the character trivia for the game and car related prizes such as car wash – piece of cake! Coloring books, crayons, stickers and more to keep the kids occupied – fantastic. Now the burning question….what will the menu be and how can I relate it to this theme?
Hmmmm. I pondered for a while then thought, “my family LOVES Monical’s and the Manteno, IL location always gives great service and the food is out of this world”. That settled that question but now, how can I make it fit the theme? Looking at the menu and recalling the names of character in CARS it hit me; we will have – Ramone’s Rollies, Sally’s Salad, Route 66 breadsticks, Francesco Cheese Fries, Guido’s Italian Special Point Pizza and Tow-Mater and Cheese Pizza! What a hit!! Everyone revved their engines and raced to the food table to fill up their tanks and enjoyed every bite!
Car related puns aside, the service and food as usual were fantastic and left them craving more! Thank you Monical’s for being a true “Family Pleaser” and for helping to make my son’s birthday party a true success!
Monical’s Pizza Joins Share Our Strength’s Dine Out For No Kid Hungry™
September 18 – 24, 2011
Restaurants Across the Country Embrace Week-Long Event to End Childhood Hunger in America
Bradley, IL… Monicals’s Pizza is proud to announce its participation in Share Our Strength’s Dine Out For No Kid Hungry™, a week-long national restaurant event in cities across the United States. From September 18-24, Monical’s will be offering 20% off a one topping Family Pleaser® and making a $1 donation for every one purchased to NO KID HUNGRY. Participating store locations are available at DineOutForNoKidHungry.org and www.monicalspizza.com/shareourstrength.
20% off Family Pleaser offer Aug. 29-Sept. 25, 2011
This is one of the many ways thousands of restaurants all across America will be raising funds this September to support No Kid Hungry™, Share Our Strength’s national campaign to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. More than 17 million children in America—almost one of four—struggle with hunger. With the support of thousands of restaurants like Monical’s Pizza, dozens of corporate partners and millions of consumers, Share Our Strength is changing that.
“Monical’s has been a an active supporter of numerous community services throughout our 51 year history. I can think of no better effort than to eliminate childhood hunger in America. That’s a cause we can get behind,” states Janelle Reents, President.
“We are asking everyone—private citizens, businesses, policymakers and other nonprofits—to help us end childhood hunger in this country,” said Bill Shore, Founder of Share Our Strength. “We continue to be amazed by the generosity and commitment of the restaurant industry and its customers. Last year, they raised more than $1.5 million through Dine Out For No Kid Hungry, a record high and twice what was raised the year before. Our goal is to involve as many restaurants and their customers as it takes to make No Kid Hungry a reality by 2015.
“I encourage everyone to dine out often at participating Dine Out For No Kid Hungry restaurants in September, then visit our web site, Strength.org, to learn what more they can do to make sure every child in America has access to the nutritious food they need.”
Share Our Strength’s Dine Out For No Kid Hungry is sponsored by Sysco, Ecolab, American Express, USA Today and the National Restaurant Association.
About Monical’s Pizza
Founded in 1959, Monicla’s Pizza consists of 63 restaurants in Illlinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. More information about our company can be found at www.monicalspizza.com.
About Share Our Strength
Share Our Strength®,a national nonprofit, is ending childhood hunger in America by connecting children with the nutritious food they need to lead healthy, active lives. Through its No Kid Hungry® Campaign—a national effort to end childhood hunger in America by 2015—Share Our Strength ensures children in need are enrolled in effective federal nutrition programs; invests in community organizations fighting hunger; teaches families how to cook healthy, affordable meals; and builds public-private partnerships to end childhood hunger, at the state and city level. Working closely with the culinary industry and relying on the strength of its volunteers, Share Our Strength hosts innovative culinary fundraising events and develops pioneering cause marketing campaigns that support No Kid Hungry. VisitStrength.org to get involved.
