NH’s Common Man Restaurants Help with Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts

In keeping with a long tradition of community service, The Common Man Family of Restaurants has once again reached out to assist those in need—by offering direct help as well as raising funds through the generosity of its patrons—this time in the efforts to aid people and communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy last week.

Thousands are still without power in New York and New Jersey, and the recovery has been complicated by this week’s Nor’easter. However, as the relief effort continues, the folks at the Common Man have donated food to the Jersey Shore and are working hard to raise funds for the American Red Cross NH Chapter. The popular family of restaurants is running a program for customers who dine at any of their locations to be able to easily contribute to the relief funds.

With a special fundraiser that began on October 29^th and is ending tonight, November 9^th, any guest who dines at a Common Man Family location and donates $5 to the American Red Cross NH Chapter receives a coupon for a free appetizer for their next visit, and any guest who donates $10 receives a coupon for a free entrée for their next visit. It’s win-win, for the guests and for the victims of Hurricane Sandy!

The C-Man crew personally delivers a trailer-full of donations to the Jersey Shore.

This kind of humanitarian effort is nothing new to The Common Man Family. The founder and owner of the company, Alex Ray, included community service as part of his business practice when he first started out in 1971, and since then has been leading his team in giving back. He continues to set an example for more than 800 employees with his willingness to personally get involved, his compassion and drive, and his aspiration that each fundraiser be a complete success.

In 2005, the family of restaurants reached out beyond its tradition of helping causes throughout New Hampshire to lend a hand in Louisiana and Mississippi for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Just days after the hurricane struck and caused widespread devastation, Alex packed up the Common Man company van with cooking supplies, food, and clothes, and drove himself down to the hardest hit areas to offer any help he could. Meanwhile in New Hampshire, the rest of the Common Man staff set up a “Common Effort” relief fund, converting all its restaurants to benefit sites and hosting dinners over two nights for hurricane relief.

According to the full story on the company’s website, “What Alex and his staff gave to the people of New Hampshire was a real way to help their countrymen in a time of need. He exerted himself and showed us all that together we could make a difference.”

In the fall of 2007, The Common Man became involved with The New Hampshire Food Bank, donating $10,000 and more than 1,600 pounds of food when the organization announced its supplies were at a critical low.  This same non-profit was again the recipient of the Common Man’s good will just last year, when the family of restaurants celebrated 40 years in business by making a $40,000 donation to the food bank.

The Common Man family continues to lend a helping hand in local communities as well as in other parts of the country whenever it can. Please consider partnering with this generous New Hampshire business and participate in the special fundraiser for the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. It’s dining with a cause!  What better way to spend a Friday evening than helping our fellow American citizens?

For more information, visit the Common Man website or their Facebook event listing. Clearly, the Common Man is living up to its mantra of “Doing Well by Doing Good.”

Carrie Reed
The Mill Falls Blogging Team