Restaurant company served food, provided support to servicemen and women defending our nation

(Washington, DC) The National Restaurant Association today announced that Newport Pacific Corporation, which operates Mo’s Restaurants throughout Oregon’s Coast, has been named the large business winner of the Association’s eighth annual Restaurant Neighbor Award. The restaurant was presented the award and a prize of $5,000 to continue its community outreach during the Association’s 21st annual Public Affairs Conference in Washington, DC. The award celebrates the philanthropic spirit of the restaurant industry and serves to inspire others to actively get involved in their communities.

“Restaurants are important leaders in our communities and are often looked to in times of challenge to provide support to those in need. We are so pleased to award this Restaurant Neighbor award to Mo’s Restaurant for their commitment to our troops,” said Steven C. Anderson, Association president and chief executive officer. “Mo’s Restaurant enabled the people in the community of Florence, Oregon to help offer meals and support for local servicemen and women deployed overseas, as well as their families. Not only did the restaurant serve their local men and women who were defending our nation, but the restaurant was able to bring a little ‘home-cooking’ to these troops when they were serving overseas.”

Mo’s Restaurants reside in communities on the Oregon Coast, where the absence of men and women serving their country is particularly missed. After 9/11, Brenda Kentner, manager of Mo’s Restaurant in Florence, Oregon, decided to show her support of local men and women in service by placing name cards representing every guardsman and woman she knew on the outside of the restaurant. The list of names quickly grew, soon joined by pictures of these absent Oregonians. What started as a wall filled with the faces of Oregonians serving in Iraq developed into a full-fledged campaign to help those soldiers and their families.

The spirit of remembering men and women serving in the armed forces at Mo’s continued to catch on; the restaurant began a collection to provide the 101st Airborne Division serving in Iraq with care packages, complete with 200 pounds of Christmas goodies. The package was received with such enthusiasm that Mo’s sent other packages the following year to the National Guard HHC2-162, where a Mo’s employee served the troops.

Mo’s, a Northwest icon for over 50 years, wanted to offer additional assistance and decided to feed all of the men and women of the Oregon National Guard who were being deployed to Iraq. In just two weeks, Mo’s orchestrated plans to feed the 900 National Guards members about to be deployed to Iraq—and 3,100 of their friends and family. Staff and volunteers served 500 gallons of Mo’s nationally famous clam chowder in bread bowls, presenting the food on Mo’s frisbees, which served as a sturdy plate and a fun souvenir for troops, families and friends. Leftover chowder was donated to the Salvation Army, which dispersed it to shelters around the community.

Mo’s has contributed nearly $54,000 worth of food during the National Guard events and the wall in Florence continues to expand, with new faces going up on the wall each day. Today, Mo’s is still committed to helping its National Guardsmen and recently found a way to send clam chowder to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Restaurants from each participating state were selected to contend for the national Restaurant Neighbor Award (single-unit, multi-unit and national chain categories) and the Cornerstone Humanitarian award, which is awarded to an individual who is an exemplary model of one who is personally dedicated to community service. The national winners each receive $5,000 to help continue its community programs. A profile of the community-service efforts of each national and state winner will be highlighted in a booklet about the award, as well as on the Association’s Web site, www.restaurant.org/community. American Express is the founding partner of the program.

“As a founding partner of the National Restaurant Association’s Neighbor Award, American Express is proud to recognize this year’s winners for all they’ve done to make a difference in their communities,” said Curtis Wilson, Vice President and General Manager, Restaurant Industries, American Express Establishment Services. “The awardees are powerful examples of why restaurants are truly the cornerstone of their communities, impacting the areas where they and their customers live and work.”

“Mo’s has been a northwest landmark for decades and is famous, not just for its clam chowder but also for being an active member of the community,” said Mike McCallum, president of the Oregon Restaurant Association. “As a state with one of the largest per capita ratio of Veterans in the nation, we applaud their efforts in supporting Oregon's National Guard and their families and proud to claim Mo’s as one of our own.”

The 2006 Restaurant Neighbor Award single-unit winner is Drago’s Seafood Restaurant in Metairie, La.; the winner of the national chain award is Firehouse Subs in Jacksonville, Fla.; and bd’s Mongolian barbeque in Ferndale, Mich., is the Cornerstone Humanitarian winner.

For more information on the 2006 winners, or the Restaurant Neighbor Award, please contact the National Restaurant Association at media@dineout.org or (202) 973-3677, or visit www.restaurant.org/community.

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The Oregon Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry in Oregon, which is comprised of over 9,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets, a work force of 120,000 employees, and a total economic impact of $9.7 billion - making it the cornerstone of the economy, career opportunities and community involvement. The Association works to represent educate and promote the rapidly growing industry. For more information, visit our Web site at www.ora.org.