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Restaurant to offer omelets to help the poor
By Andrew Junker, The Catholic Sun
September 20, 2007
This Sept. 20, hungry Phoenicians will find that charitable giving can be fun and filling.
It’s a lesson First Watch Restaurants owner Tom Lux has taught for 20 years.
Through his restaurants’ Free Omelet Day, Lux has partnered with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to provide food and financial assistance to the Valley’s needy.
“It came out of a desire for us to have a customer appreciation day,” Lux said. One day a year, First Watch picked up the tab for anyone who wanted an omelet.
Over time, Lux thought that since his patrons didn’t have to pay for their food on Free Omelet Day, he ought to give them an opportunity to donate their money to a worthy cause.
“St. Vincent de Paul has their own infrastructure and we became partners with them,” Lux said. “Over time, our purpose has really become more and more to call attention to St. Vincent de Paul and the work that they do.”
Part of that work includes serving more than 3,500 meals a day to the needy at the organization’s five dining rooms. That’s where the other part of Free Omelet Day takes place.
A day or two before Lux and his staff serve free food to First Watch customers, they serve the guests at a St. Vincent de Paul dining room.
“That’s the thing about Tom that makes him unique,” said Steve Zabilski, executive director of the Phoenix Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
“He himself is involved in reaching out to the less fortunate. He provides his employees the opportunity to be part of this, but then he also extends that opportunity to his customers,” Zabilski said.
His customers make the most of that opportunity every year. Lux said that patrons eagerly anticipate the day and donate generously. Last year, they contributed $12,000.
But as much as Zabilski appreciates the money, his greatest joy is watching the Society’s guests enjoy delicious food made by professional chefs.
“I think my favorite memory is watching not just the smiles on the faces of our guests, but watching the smiles on the people serving the food,” Zabilski said.
“Our guests are saying thank you to the people from First Watch, but the people from First Watch — and this is what’s remarkable — say thank you to the guests, thank you to St. Vincent de Paul for allowing them to do what they do,” he said.
Lux agreed.
“It’s one thing to be a part of raising money,” he said. “It’s another thing to be hands-on and serve those whom the Lord said we should be serving first.”
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