'Ordinary person' organizes Dine Out for Haiti
SEATTLE - Sixteen of Seattle's most popular restaurants will raise money for the Haiti relief effort on Sunday night, thanks to the determined efforts of a local woman.
For days after the devastating 7.0 earthquake that killed untold thousands of people, Monica Mendoza helplessly watched the images coming out of Haiti.
Houses crumbled ... hundreds of men, women and young children trapped beneath rubble ... people starving and parched with thirst.
After one look at photos and videos of these heart-breaking scenes, she made a donation and convinced her friends to make one, too.
It didn't seem like enough, though. But else could she do - she was just an ordinary person without connections or pull.
"I wanted to do more, I was prompted to do more ... because there are a lot of people without homes," she says.
For days, Monica racked her brain.
What could she do to help an entire country suffering? She's not rich. She doesn't own a big corporation ....
And then it came to her.
"I was reading a blog - the New York Times blog - and it was talking about how restaurants in New York were donating," she says.
So, Monica called Dinette, a restaurant on Capitol Hill, and they said "yes."
So, she called another ... and another ... and another ... and soon restaurants started to call her.
Monica thought she'd be lucky to get a handful to help.
"That was my own personal goal - if I can get five restaurants ... " she says.
She ended up getting 16 restaurants all over Seattle to donate a portion of their sales to Haiti relief. A conglomerate of artists heard about Monica's effort and they're helping too - but, there's more.
Word of the Sunday-night-only donation event began circulating among thousands of people, via blogs and tweets over the Internet.
But while the response is overwhelming, Monica doesn't want any thanks - she just wants people to help.
"There are ways that they can contribute and there are things they can do," she says.
Here is the full list of restaurants taking part in the one-night-only event, Sunday, Jan 24:
• Dinette, 1514 E. Olive Way, Seattle
• Restaurant Zoe, 2137 Second Ave., Seattle
• Quinn's Pub, 1001 E. Pike St., Seattle
• Le Gourmand, 425 NW Market St., Seattle
• La Rustica, 4100 Beach Drive SW, Seattle
• Skylark Cafe, 3803 Delridge Way SW, Seattle
• La Isla, 2320 NW Market St., Seattle
• Tavolata, 2323 Second Ave., Seattle
• How to Cook a Wolf, 2208 Queen Anne Ave. N., Seattle
• Springhill, 4437 California Ave. SW, Seattle
• Feedback Lounge, 6451 California Ave. SW, Seattle
• Mission Bar, 2325 California Ave. SW, Seattle
• Ballard Brothers Seafood & Burgers, 5305 15th Ave. NW, Seattle
• Taste, 1300 First Ave., Seattle
• Cafe Venus, 609 Eastlake Ave. E., Seattle
• Barking Frog, 14580 NE 145th St., Woodinville
For days after the devastating 7.0 earthquake that killed untold thousands of people, Monica Mendoza helplessly watched the images coming out of Haiti.
Houses crumbled ... hundreds of men, women and young children trapped beneath rubble ... people starving and parched with thirst.
After one look at photos and videos of these heart-breaking scenes, she made a donation and convinced her friends to make one, too.
It didn't seem like enough, though. But else could she do - she was just an ordinary person without connections or pull.
"I wanted to do more, I was prompted to do more ... because there are a lot of people without homes," she says.
For days, Monica racked her brain.
What could she do to help an entire country suffering? She's not rich. She doesn't own a big corporation ....
And then it came to her.
"I was reading a blog - the New York Times blog - and it was talking about how restaurants in New York were donating," she says.
So, Monica called Dinette, a restaurant on Capitol Hill, and they said "yes."
So, she called another ... and another ... and another ... and soon restaurants started to call her.
Monica thought she'd be lucky to get a handful to help.
"That was my own personal goal - if I can get five restaurants ... " she says.
She ended up getting 16 restaurants all over Seattle to donate a portion of their sales to Haiti relief. A conglomerate of artists heard about Monica's effort and they're helping too - but, there's more.
Word of the Sunday-night-only donation event began circulating among thousands of people, via blogs and tweets over the Internet.
But while the response is overwhelming, Monica doesn't want any thanks - she just wants people to help.
"There are ways that they can contribute and there are things they can do," she says.
Here is the full list of restaurants taking part in the one-night-only event, Sunday, Jan 24:
• Dinette, 1514 E. Olive Way, Seattle
• Restaurant Zoe, 2137 Second Ave., Seattle
• Quinn's Pub, 1001 E. Pike St., Seattle
• Le Gourmand, 425 NW Market St., Seattle
• La Rustica, 4100 Beach Drive SW, Seattle
• Skylark Cafe, 3803 Delridge Way SW, Seattle
• La Isla, 2320 NW Market St., Seattle
• Tavolata, 2323 Second Ave., Seattle
• How to Cook a Wolf, 2208 Queen Anne Ave. N., Seattle
• Springhill, 4437 California Ave. SW, Seattle
• Feedback Lounge, 6451 California Ave. SW, Seattle
• Mission Bar, 2325 California Ave. SW, Seattle
• Ballard Brothers Seafood & Burgers, 5305 15th Ave. NW, Seattle
• Taste, 1300 First Ave., Seattle
• Cafe Venus, 609 Eastlake Ave. E., Seattle
• Barking Frog, 14580 NE 145th St., Woodinville