Chicken or beef, burritos or bowls, regular or large—for six weeks, it didn’t matter how guests ordered their Santa Fe Burritos and Bowls at 14 Taco John’s restaurants in Colorado and Wyoming. For every order, the fast-food Mexican restaurants donated $1 to the Red Cross of Northern Colorado to help flood victims.
“Life for so many families in Colorado was turned inside out by the devastating floods in September 2013,” says Erin Mounsey, executive director for the American Red Cross of Northern Colorado. “The generous support of Taco John’s is helping these families secure many of their basic human needs and navigate the difficult road to recovery.”
Taco John’s restaurants in Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland, Longmont, Wellington, Windsor, and Cheyenne sold more than 22,000 Santa Fe Burritos and Bowls during the fundraiser, bringing the total donation to $22,537.
“We are very pleased with the results. The restaurants and managers directly affected by the flood really stepped up, and our guests in these communities did a fantastic job supporting the fundraising efforts by ordering Santa Fe Burritos and Bowls to contribute to the flood relief,” says Todd Geatches, director of operations for Rocky Mountain Restaurant Management, the company that manages some of the participating locations. “We had many families who were displaced by the flood visit our restaurants and thank us for the support. That really motivated our team.”
Three months after the flooding first hit, Mounsey says, it was inspiring to see how far families and communities have come. He estimates the Taco John’s fundraiser has helped thousands of families.
“The scale of the devastation was so great, we felt it was our responsibility to do something. Helping our communities when they need it most is the reason many of our team members choose to be part of the Taco John’s family,” Geatches says. “This is what makes Taco John’s special: a willingness and a sense of obligation to do the right thing.”
The Red Cross provides shelter, food, and health and mental health services to help families and entire communities get back on their feet following disasters.
