For 12 years StreetSmart has been partnering with businesses across the hospitality industry to bring about social change in their local communities. Over 1000 restaurants and cafes have been involved in either DineSmart or CafeSmart, raising funds to power grassroots homeless projects. If you had asked me what kind of company I would like to work with, to build our events and social impact, I couldn’t have imagined a better fit than Silver Chef.
Over the past 2 months we have started to work with Silver Chef, a company with a longstanding social enterprise focus, founded and chaired by philanthropist Allan English. For a not-for-profit as small as StreetSmart this is an outstanding opportunity.
Spearheaded by a passionate team, that span all facets of the business, Silver Chef staff will be directing their efforts towards achieving a milestone fundraising target of $1 million dollars. The business is allocating significant resources and showing great commitment to making a difference. Restaurants across the Silver Chef network and beyond will be encouraged to register and participate in our upcoming annual DineSmart campaign. The simple but effective fundraising mechanism sees participating venues ask each table to chip in a $2 donation on their bills during the Christmas holiday season. To date DineSmart has helped StreetSmart raise over $3million.
100% of proceeds are distributed amongst community partner organisations in the communities where funds are raised, providing critical aid to those who need it most.
For Silver Chef, the large-scale campaign is the first since becoming a B Corporation (www.bcorporation.com.au ) in May. It marks another chapter in the businesses ongoing focus on social responsibility, with B Corp focused on a global movement that redefines success in business and creating positive social change.
Commenting on the StreetSmart partnership, Allan English said;
“Our industry is filled with good people who would like to make a positive difference in the lives of others. The DineSmart program is such a simple yet extraordinarily powerful way that together we can make a very real change in the lives of the homeless citizens in our community.”
“I’d encourage restaurant owners to join us by registering to get involved – reaching our fundraising target will mean so much for countless grassroots organisations.”
For StreetSmart this partnership provides us with a committed team of talented staff to help us broaden our reach into the hospitality industry, building our events and local community grants. Along with their own staff, Silver Chef are also bringing on board their network and partner businesses. It’s exciting times.
DineSmart will take place 9th Nov – 31st Dec 2015 across Australia.
Adam Robinson
