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YES Club Receives $1,000 Grant from LongHorn Steakhouse to Advance the After School Safe Haven for Youth

Newark, Ohio– May 1, 2015 – Mental Health America’s (MHALC) Youth Engaged In Service (YES) Club, an after school safe haven for youth ages 11-18, received a $1000 grant from the LongHorn Steakhouse in Heath as part of the Restaurant Community Grants program from the Darden Restaurants Foundation, the charitable arm of Darden Restaurants. The annual grants program empowers each of the LongHorn Steakhouse locations to support local community programs. The donation will enable YES to continue to provide educational and inspiring programming for hundreds of at-risks youths in Licking County.

“Support from LongHorn Steakhouse and the Darden Restaurants Foundation helps us continue to provide quality programming to the young people who attend YES Club,” said Penny Sitler, MHALC’s Executive Director. “We’re proud of YES Club’s impact on its members and this grant enables us to continue to enhance their lives.”

“We’re proud to be able to support YES Club through our Restaurant Community Grants program,” said Stephanie Ghertner, Director of the Darden Foundation. “Our team members are incredibly passionate about getting involved in their local communities, and this program enables them to do just that.”

Grant funds will help YES Club expand activities which include mentoring, tutoring and life-skills and anger management classes. All of these experiences add to the children’s social and emotional learning. There is no charge for YES Club membership, allowing youth from economically disadvantaged families to take advantage of all the services and opportunities that are offered, so grants are welcome additions to YES’s funding.

 About YES Club

YES Club is a free after-school program for teens 11-18 years old.  It is committed to promoting positive youth and improving academic success for the young people served.  It is a program of Mental Health America of Licking County, a community 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For additional information on the YES Club and MHALC, please visit www.mhalc.org.

The Darden Foundation

The Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation is the charitable arm of Darden Restaurants, Inc. The Darden Foundation’s mission is to maintain a spirit of service and community engagement as defining characteristics of Darden’s family of restaurants – Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Eddie V’s and Yard House. Since 1995, the Darden Foundation has awarded more than $71 million in grants to leading nonprofit organizations that align with its mission and community priorities: Recipe for Success^®, Preservation of Natural Resources and Good Neighbor grants. Through the Darden Harvest program, Darden Restaurants has also donated more than 77 million pounds of food to hunger relief agencies across the U.S. and Canada. In 2011, the Darden Foundation introduced the Restaurant Community Grants program that is dedicated to supporting local nonprofit organizations in the hundreds of communities where we live and serve. For more information, please visit www.dardenfoundation.com.

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