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Glacier Restaurant Group Raises Over $30,000 for Local Charities

Montanans Embrace Round It Up program

By Clare Menzel

Patrons of six restaurants in the Flathead Valley might have noticed something different on their bills in the last few months. Now, there’s a third line down at the bottom, one between the space for entering a tip and calculating the final payment. That’s the Round It Up line.

Round It Up is a nationwide program that facilitates the movement of “change” from credit card purchases at restaurants to local charities and nonprofits.

When signing for the bill, customers are presented with the opportunity to round up their payment. For example, someone with a total of $19.80 might round up and pay $20. Those additional 20 cents are considered charitable dollars and get earmarked for donation.

“We’re getting very positive feedback,” says Ryan Fuller, the director of operations of Glacier Restaurant Group, the organization that oversees MacKenzie River Pizza and Ciao Mambo franchises in the valley, as well as The Craggy Range Bar & Grill and Latitude 48.

Servers do not mention the line, and only one or two customers have mentioned feeling pressured by the soft ask. Many more of them choose to donate, often offering an extra dollar or two.

“I love everything about it [Round It Up],” says Brad Griffin, the executive director of Montana Retail and Restaurant Association. “It’s the modern-day version of the change jar you’d find on the cash register counter. Montanans are very generous people, and it’s proved to be an extremely effective way to raise money.”

When Griffin pitched the program at a mid-2014 MRRA meeting, Fuller fell in love with the idea, too, and brought it straight home to Whitefish.

“Ryan was the first to jump on board,” Griffin says. “It was like going 0 to 60 in two seconds—well, it was like going 0 to 26 in two seconds.” Before the end of the year, Round It Up lines started appearing on the bills of 26 of GRG’s restaurants.

So far, GRG restaurants across the state have raised $35,400 in Round It Up donations. No Kid Hungry and ProStart are the current recipients of this support.

No Kid Hungry, one of Gov. Steve Bullock’s initiatives, provides healthy school breakfasts as well as summer and after-school meals. ProStart, a Montana Restaurant Association Program, teaches students about the restaurant business and offers instruction in culinary skills.

“Their energy, excitement, and commitment has been really, really impactful,” says Michelle McCarthy, Round It Up America’s chief operational officer. “There is a huge population of folks in Montana committed to helping.”

And that population is growing. Currently, five more Montanan restaurants are in the process of enrolling.

“The charities are over the moon excited,” Fuller says.

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