While the final amount raised during #25onthe25th—Monday’s fundraiser to benefit families of the Baton Rouge law enforcement officers killed and wounded on July 17—participating restaurants told Daily Report that the response was overwhelming.
At Walk-On’s in Juban Crossing, a line of nearly four dozen people snaked out of the door by 5 p.m. At Ruffino’s on Highland Road, business was more than double what it would typically be on a summer Monday, according to Executive Chef and co-owner Peter Sclafani. And at Huey’s and the Draft House downtown—the bars owned by Metro Councilman John Delgado, who first conceived the fundraiser—participation far exceeded expectations.
“Hundreds of people came out,” says Delgado, who estimates his two bars raised more than $5,000. “The only downside is that some restaurants were so full, people couldn’t get a table.”
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For Mestizo owner Jim Urdiales, who was also active in helping organize the campaign, Monday sales exceeded those of Cinco de Mayo, typically the restaurant’s busiest night of the year.
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“A Monday for us is typically $2,500 (in gross revenues),” Urdiales says. “I went into this thinking if we could do $6,000 that would be great. We did $14,200. That is amazing.”
Most of the participating bars and restaurants pledged 25% of sales on Monday, July 25, to funds established to benefit the families of Baton Rouge police officers Matthew Gerald and Montrell Jackson and East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputy Brad Garafola, and wounded deputy Nicholas Tullier. Funds have been established by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and Capital One Bank.
Read the full story on Daily Report.