An area restaurant group with a strong Chester County connections has helped raise more than $2 million for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.
The Rose Group, which runs 59 Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar restaurants in eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware, raised the money over six years. It raised the donations through its Applebee's and Corner Bakery Cafe restaurants and worked with its partner, Apple American Group, the Applebee's franchisee in South Jersey and Delaware.
This year, the restaurant operators raised $357,572 in a campaign that started May 1 and ended Wednesday with a check presentation to the charity that funds pediatric cancer research.
"We think it's a fabulous charity," said P. Jeffrey Warden, president and CEO of The Rose Group. "Cancer touches so many folks and it's particularly concerning when it touches children."
In Chester County, the Rose Group operates Applebee's in Exton, Kennett Square, Lionville, Thorndale and West Chester. Those restaurants raised $21,633 this year, a spokeswoman for The Rose Group said.
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of cancer patient Al
exandra "Alex" Scott, who died of cancer in 2004 at the age of 8.
This year marks 10 years since Scott, then 4, announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer.
Since the first stand was started, the foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement, complete with thousands of volunteers across the country.
To date, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation has raised more than $30 million toward finding a cure, funding over 125 research projects nationally.
For The Rose Group, participation in the foundation is a natural fit.
The company's chairman, Harry T. Rose, "feels it is our obligation to give back to the community," Warden said.
"It's something that's unique to our culture," Warden said. "We monitor it every quarter to make sure all of our restaurants are on track" in charitable efforts.
For Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, all of the Applebee's in The Rose Group did several things to raise money. Each donated 25 cents to Alex's from every glass of lemonade sold. Guests who donated $5 toward the charity were entered in a contest to win free meals for a year and received $5 off their next car-side order.
Individual restaurants did their own fundraising events, including in-restaurant lemonade stands, contests, carnivals and car washes. A golf outing raised $58,000 this year, and a flapjack event held one Saturday was also a success, Warden said.
"It really motivates our employees," the president and CEO said. "They take it and run with it."
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