The Puja Foundation was established by Puja Dharod, the daughter of SSCP CEO Sunil Dharod. One of the core values instilled by her parents growing up to her and her brother, Chris Dharod, was to take care of people. She was inspired to create the foundation when she witnessed a Team Member in a restaurant going through a difficult time. The foundation provides support to Team Members when they find themselves struggling from a catastrophic life event.
The foundation was named after Puja because her name means to pray and she wanted the foundation to symbolize that prayers can be answered.
“When our people need us, we are there for them. We are all family here.” – Puja Dharod
Today, the non-profit has served hundreds of families since 2011 and will continue to serve many more.
We strongly believe in giving back to the communities in which we operate and do business every day. After all, this is where our Team Members and Guests live and work. As an extension to their family, we pride ourselves on the relationships we have established and the support we have been able to provide to National and Local organizations that align with our core values.
On a national scale, Applebee’s supports neighborhood heroes each Veterans Day by welcoming veterans and active-duty service men and women into restaurants for a free meal. Applebee’s was one of the first and largest casual dining brands to provide America’s heroes with a free meal, and since 2008, the Applebee’s system has served 11 million free meals on Veterans Day.
Over the past 15 years, Applebee’s restaurants from the east to west coast have teamed together to raise a total of $11.5 million for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to help fund childhood cancer research and family support programs.
East Texas Applebee’s locations participated in “Stuff the Bus” school supply drive to help students with back-to-school necessities. The restaurants also contributed 10% of all food sales from one entire day to support local educational institutions.
Applebee’s in Texas, partnered with its guests to provide more than 250,000 meals to its neighbors in need via the five main food banks in The Lone Star State through Buy 1, Provide 1 initiative.
We are always looking for ways to give back. We regularly support local schools, teams and area charities through our Flapjack Fundraisers, Dine To Donate, along with other local area fundraising and charitable giving programs.
Contact your local Applebee’s to learn more!
The SONIC Foundation focuses on sparking brighter futures for America’s youth through support of three key pillars, including hunger, education and community. The SONIC Foundation knows the brightest futures arise out of strong communities where kids have access to the food, education and resources they need to grow and thrive. The Foundation works closely with franchisees like SSCP, to host restaurant fundraisers where our guests can donate to the SONIC Foundation to support our local community.
Limeades for Learning is a National SONIC program to support local schools. Each SONIC Restaurant donates a portion of drink purchases to support local schools through education nonprofit partner, DonorsChoose. The funds are used for learning materials needed to inspire creativity and learning. The funds also help support classroom projects throughout the school year, including during the back-to-school season each fall and during Teacher Appreciation Month in May.
