Restaurants across the country have responded to appeals from humanitarian charity Action Against Hunger (AAH) to help raise funds for survivors of the Haiti earthquake.
A spokesperson for the charity said the London office had been inundated with calls from restaurateurs asking for donation boxes and posters to put into their restaurants and for more information on how they could help raise money for the cause since the appeal was launched last week.
Marc Restaurants, which runs the Greenhouse and Umu restaurants in London, is adding £1 to every customer's bill while Fanny Stocker, financial controller at Harrison’s and Sam’s Brasserie, is working on a project to produce a donation envelope that can be used in 1,000 restaurants in the UK.
Top chefs dinner
Five chefs – Atul Kochhar, Chris Galvin, Herbert Berger, John Burton Race and Vickram Purewal - are also planning to cook a five-course meal at London restaurant Le Bouchon Breton to raise money for earthquake victims.
The event, on 8 February, has been organised by events co-ordinator and food writer Sabrina Ghayour, who is hoping to raise £100,000 for AAH’s Haiti fund.
Chris Galvin, chef proprietor of Galvin Restaurants, said: “It’s the least we can do. If there’s any small, tiny way to help then I want to. It’s great that the industry is doing something like this.”
Tickets for the event are £175 including wine and soft drinks. There will be a raffle and auction on the night, with all money raised going to Haiti.
AAH, which had one of the first planes to land in Haiti following the disaster, has been delivering vital aid and food supplies to the people of Haiti since disaster struck on Thursday. So far the international charity has allocated €10 million for the first phase of its emergency response.
Restaurants looking to get involved in fundraising should contact Karen Doyle at AAH on 020 8293 6190 or email k.doyle@aahuk.org. To book tickets for the Bouchon Breton event call Sabrina Ghayour on 07961 336 198 or email sabrina@foodepedia.co.uk.