El Famous Burrito stores battling to benefit Glen Ellyn Food Pantry
The biggest game of the National Football League season happens this Sunday, but the competition has already begun for El Famous Burrito and the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry.
For the second straight year, El Famous Burrito's locations in Lombard and Glendale Heights are battling this week to see which location can donate the most pounds of food to the food pantry.
It's simple. Through Sunday, customers who donate at least one nonperishable food item at curbside, carryout or dine-in order at one of the two locations will receive a free taco valued at up to $2.99. Customers who don't bring in an item can round up their check $2 and receive a taco coupon.
While the employees at the winning store get a free lunch from owner Kevin Walker, the true winners are the patrons of the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry.
“For us, it was an opportunity, and when this idea came up, I was for it,” Walker said. “One of my goals is to support the community that supports us. We wanted to give back.”
Last year, the two stores combined to donate 390 pounds of food, which includes shelf-stable canned goods, cereal and boxed foods like pasta. According to executive director Laura Glaza, the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry posts the 10 most needed items each week on its website, GlenEllynFoodPantry.org. This week, that includes cooking oil, jarred pasta sauce, and crackers, cookies and chips.
The event is part of a larger effort for the food pantry, Glaza said. Last year, there were 169 food drives hosted by community groups, with 82,440 pounds of food collected. That translates to more than 68,000 meals.
But there's more. Statistics prove that customers not only want to support businesses that support their local community, they are expecting it.
For example, according to a 2018 Cone/Porter Novelli Purpose study, 78 percent of Americans believe companies must do more than just make money; they must positively impact society as well. A 5WPR 2020 Consumer Culture Report stated that 71 percent of Millennials said they would pay more for a product if they knew some of the proceeds will go to a charity.
Glaza, who once upon a time worked for the Chicago Bears in a similar role, was the brainchild of this promotion. She patronized El Famous Burrito's Glendale Heights location frequently, and when she joined the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry in 2020, that gave her the idea.
Connecting with the community is at the heart of its success.
“I've been in nonprofits for awhile, so folks connect good work with business, so we know that businesses that donate to the community are rewarded,” she said.
What's perhaps most heartening, Walker said, is the fact that some customers arrive with a large food donation but don't want the free taco. In other words, they are committed to helping their local store “win” the competition and help the food pantry.
But at the end of the day, the promotion is fun not only for Walker and Glaza but for the participating stores, which take the competition seriously. The Lombard store won the competition last year, so Walker said he may “root” for the Glendale Heights store to prevail this time around.
“They'll be like, We have to show up,” he said. “If Glendale can win by a pound more, that would be awesome.”
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