Kansas restaurateurs come together to help tornado-battered Greensburg

Nation's Restaurant News,  June 25, 2007  

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GREENSBURG, KAN. -- This Kansas town, devastated by a May 4 tornado that killed 10 residents and flattened nearly 90 percent of its buildings, is getting attention from foodservice organizations.

One month after the disaster, 26-unit LaMar's Donuts of Denver staged its largest edible giveaway by delivering enough doughnuts to feed the approximately 1,500 residents of the central Kansas community.

Franchisee Doug Wessley drove 109 miles in the early morning from his LaMar's shop in Wichita, Kan., to deliver 150 dozen fresh doughnuts to Salvation Army officials in Greensburg for distribution.

Representatives from Kansas Pizza Hut restaurants donated $171,432 to United Way of the Plains. More than 150 Pizza Hut locations in Kansas conducted a daylong benefit drive for the United Way Greensburg Disaster Fund. Kansas Pizza Hut restaurants set aside 20 percent of all sales to support those affected by the tornado.

University of Kansas Dining Services in Lawrence, Kan., gave $2,500 from retail sales and a catered All University Supper to Olathe, Kan.-based charity Heart to Heart International for their relief efforts in Greensburg.

"After witnessing the utter devastation in Greensburg, we as a department felt the need to lend a helping hand," said Nona Golledg, director of KU Dining Services. "This is the least we could do."

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