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LongHorn Steakhouse Celebrates 20 Years of Harvest Food Donation to Fight Hunger

| Suncoast Post Staff |

The holidays can be a difficult time for those facing food insecurities, but LongHorn Steakhouse has been continuously working to help fight hunger in Tampa and St. Petersburg and Sarasota through their Harvest food donation program, which has been in place at their parent company of Darden Restaurants for the past 20 years. Since the program’s inception, 1.2 million pounds of food have been donated to local nonprofits near LongHorn’s Tampa and St. Petersburg area restaurants, amounting to more than 1 million meals.

LongHorn locations nationwide participate in the Harvest program. Each day, restaurant team members gather unused, surplus food like pasta, steak, soup, chicken, and vegetables to prepare for donation. Nonprofit organizations pick up these donations each week to provide to those in their community.

“Hunger continues to be a significant issue in Tampa and surrounding areas, and at LongHorn, we’re in a position to help” said Richard Hayden, Managing Partner of LongHorn Steakhouse in Tampa. “The Harvest program has allowed us to give back to the community we serve for years, and our team takes immense pride in knowing that we’re making a difference.”

According to Feeding America, 34 million people in the United States face hunger, and food banks have experienced greater demand due to high grocery prices and the end of pandemic-era benefits like Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP) emergency allotments.

LongHorn restaurants nationwide participate in Harvest, and over time, their collective food donations have totaled nearly 28 million pounds of food — or 23.3 million meals. Locally, LongHorn donates to Meals on Wheels, Catholic Charities, and The Apostolic Church, Faith Baptist Church, JFCS Of the Suncoast, Remnant Café, Good Neighbors, Hunger Free Mission for Christ, Suncoast Haven of Rest, Village Presbyterian Church, Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, Dawn Center, Resurrection Catholic Church.

In addition, LongHorn has worked with Feeding America for more than 13 years, and since 2017, the Darden Foundation, the charitable arm of LongHorn’s parent company, has donated $16.3 million to support Feeding America member food banks across all 50 states.

As part of these ongoing efforts to fight hunger, LongHorn has helped to enhance mobile food pantry programs for

Feeding America’s food banks in communities where food insecurity rates are disproportionately high. Since January 2021, 35 Feeding America food banks across 18 states have received a 26-foot refrigerated box truck to help address transportation needs and give access to nutritious food for those who need it most. In 2021, Feeding Tampa Bay was a recipient of one of these trucks.

About Longhorn Steakhouse

LongHorn Steakhouse is all about quality, serving fresh, never-frozen steaks that are boldly seasoned with proprietary blends and expertly grilled by certified Grill Masters. LongHorn has more than 560 restaurants and is committed to making a positive difference in the lives of others in the community. As part of this commitment, LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants have donated nearly 28 million pounds of food to local non-profit organizations across the country. For more information and to find a location near you, visit LongHorn Steakhouse. Fans can like or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Photo from LongHorn Steakhouse

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