Jersey Mike’s Subs, home of the “fast casual sub sandwich,” is teaming up with nationwide charities to fulfill customers in more ways than one.
During the month of March, the restaurant chain is participating in their annual “Month of Giving” by assisting 86 charities nationwide through donations and revenue. Jersey Mike’s Subs in Culver City have teamed up with the West San Fernando-based charity, the Talbert Family Foundation, to help fight cancer and aid families affected by it.
According to Talbert Family Foundation Executive Director Julia Talbert, the foundation works to “provide direct financial support to families in our local community that have family member’s battling cancer and other catastrophic illnesses.”
During their Month of Giving Campaign, the restaurant chain is planning to accept donations from customers to benefit the foundation, but also on March 27 to take-their revenue from the stores and actually donate that to charity.
The collaboration between the restaurant and the foundation began in a unique way.
“One of the district managers knows of our foundation because of one of the boys of the families that we’re helping approached us based on his personal knowledge of what we were, to see if [a collaboration] was something we were interested in doing,” said Talbert.
Through their foreknowledge of the Talbert Family Foundation and their policies, “the people at Jersey Mike’s know the money’s going to go directly to help a family.”
The Talbert Family Foundation was started 10 years ago after the death of the founder’s ex-wife. She passed from cancer at age 36—and had a daughter that was six at the time.
Following her death, her ex-husband and his wife tried, “to do something for the daughter, for Samantha, to just try to show her that something good could come from something bad, and basically’s how the foundation got started,” Talbert explained.
Since its inception, the foundation has helped raise and has donated $5 million and help over 400 families.
To reach out to more families, the foundation has relied on word of mouth, “and really haven’t advertised, being locally-based we try to just help families in an area that we can kind of put our arms around–in the West Fernando Valley,” Talbert said.
With the “Month of Giving” comes even more opportunities for both Jersey Mike’s Subs and the Talbert Family Foundation to help those in need.