RALEIGH, N.C. — Cafe Carolina and Bakery raised $22,528 for Special Olympics North Carolina as part of its sponsorship in the Over the Edge fundraiser to benefit Special Olympics, according to Keith L. Fishburne, president/CEO of Special Olympics North Carolina.
Cafe Carolina raised the funds through their “A Sweet Way to Help” promotion. Customers were asked to donate $1 to Special Olympics in exchange for one of CafeCarolina’s oversized fresh-baked cookies. All CafeCarolina restaurants participated in the month-long promotion. Cafe Carolina has been a long-time supporter of Special Olympics and the cause is especially close to the heart of the Cafe Carolina team as there is at least one individual with intellectual disabilities working in every store and most are Special Olympics athletes.
In addition to the financial support, Cafe Carolina also opened its Wachovia store on Oct. 1 to cater to event guests. The Wachovia building store served as base camp for the Over the Edge event. In addition to providing meals to rappellers and volunteers the store, normally only open Monday through Friday, opened for business to all spectators and provided a place to watch the live video streaming of the event provided by Shoreline Productions. The store also donated all sales of bakery items on event day to Special Olympics NC. Cafe Carolina will also provide food and beverages at the Over the Edge – Charlotte event on Oct. 29.
In the second year of the “Over the Edge” for Special Olympics North Carolina fundraiser in Raleigh, 112 area thrill seekers made a grand impact on the local community and touched thousands of people with intellectual disabilities when they rappelled from the 32-story Wachovia Capitol Center in Downtown Raleigh. The unique and thrilling event raised more than $150,000. In addition to corporate sponsorships, the rappellers each raised a minimum of $1,000 for the “privilege” to go Over the Edge.
“Special Olympics North Carolina is very grateful to Cafe Carolina for sponsoring the Over the Edge event for a second straight year and so generously helping us raise funds through the cookie campaign,” said Fishburne. “We are very appreciative of all Cafe Carolina did to make the Over the Edge event so successful.”
There is still a chance to rappel for Special Olympics this year. Interested participants can register and rappel in Charlotte on Saturday, Oct. 29 from The VUE- Charlotte. For more information and to register, visit www.overtheedgenc.com.
About Café Carolina and Bakery
Since 1995, Café Carolina and Bakery has offered a “warm welcome” to customers, with fresh made sandwiches, soups and salads in a friendly, upscale atmosphere. There are six locations across North Carolina including: Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, Greensboro and Charlotte. Cafe Carolina and Bakery is owned by Boddie-Noell Enterprises, a family-owned restaurant franchise business headquartered in Rocky Mount. For more information, visit the website at www.cafecarolina.com.
About Special Olympics North Carolina
Special Olympics North Carolina offers year-round sports training and competition for more than 38,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities. These athletes inspire greatness through their success and provide motivation to the thousands of coaches, sports officials, local program committee members and event organizers involved in Special Olympics statewide. SONC offers Olympic-type competition in 19 sports on local and state levels. It is one of the largest Special Olympics Programs in the world in terms of registered athletes. Engage with us on http://twitter.com/sonc_beafan; http://www.facebook.com/SpecialOlympicsNC and http://www.youtube.com/BeAFanSONC.