Rockafeller’s Restaurant Recognized Nationally for Being a Good Neighbor in Virginia Beach

(Virginia Beach, Virginia)-July 6, 2006- The Washington, DC based National Restaurant Assocation has announced that Virginia Beach’s own Rockafeller’s Restaurant was named a state finalist for the Association’s eighth annual Restaurant Neighbor Award due to its extraordinary commitment to the city of Virginia Beach and to the city’s families in need.

This award commends Rockafeller’s for its work in the trenches of the city – serving a hot complimentary item for 120-150 of the city’s homeless residents through “Potter’s House” – a local church’s weekly bag lunch program. In addition, each year Rockafeller’s owner, BJ Henley-Baumann, finds one or two local families in crisis through social services that she, her staff and her customers can help throughout the holiday season. Starting in November, Rockafeller’s cooks an entire Thanksgiving meal and delivers it to the families along with plenty of other groceries. Then, throughout the holiday season, Rockafeller’s collects monetary donations, gifts, canned goods, etc. from staff, BJ, the owner, and regular customers and vendors. All is delivered before Christmas along with a full holiday dinner for the families. Last year, the magnitude of gifts was so overwhelming that it took two trucks to deliver all of the gifts. This award was not only a national nod to Rockafeller’s for all they do for the homeless population in Virginia Beach, but to commend them for truly being interwoven in the fabric of their community.

Two winners were chosen from each state – one for multi-unit operators and one for single-unit operators. Rockafeller’s will now be one of the two chosen to represent Virginia to compete for the national award. A national panel of judges will then select two national winners who will each receive $5,000 to support their community programs. In addition, one operator will be chosen as the Cornerstone Humanitarian of the Year and all state winners will be recognized in a booklet highlighting their community service activities.

Read more about Rockafeller's community involvement here. (PDF, 1.6mb)