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'Free Omelet Day' to benefit St. Vincent de Paul
By Andrew Junker, ajunker@catholicsun.org
September 4, 2008
When diners participate in First Watch restaurants’ “Free Omelet Day” Sept. 18, they’ll find it’s never been easier to help the needy and enjoy a good meal at the same time.
The local restaurants will serve up omelets all day, asking only that their patrons put some money in a donation jar that will benefit the good works of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
It’s a combination that works. Free Omelet Day — now more than 20 years old — raises $10,000 or more each year. But it also raises awareness and a sense of giving in the community, said Tom Lux, owner of First Watch restaurants.
“Obviously we’ve tried to raise funds and we’ve done that, but our real purpose is to bring attention to the need,” Lux said. “We’re trying to engage and inform and interest people in supporting that.”
That’s why Free Omelet Day is only one part of First Watch’s effort to help those in need.
Employees of the restaurants, their families and even some of First Watch’s suppliers also travel to a St. Vincent de Paul dining room and cook more than 400 omelets for hungry guests there.
“It’s a fabulous way for our staff to get involved in something that’s personally and professionally rewarding,” Lux said. “That’s the spirit of it.”
It also mirrors the spirit of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, said Steve Zabilski, executive director of the charitable organization.
“It goes right to our mission, giving others the opportunity to serve, reaching out to the needy and including others,” Zabilski said. “It’s such an uplifting and remarkable vision and the implementation of it.”
The praise goes both ways, though. Lux said without the help of St. Vincent de Paul, it would be hard to have Free Omelet Day each year.
“We’re a small company, and the resources of St. Vincent de Paul have really helped to make this happen,” he said. “And they do good works and make efficient use of the dollars.”
This year, Lux and First Watch are expanding the charitable drive by including a golf tournament that costs $150 to enter.
“It just gets bigger and continues to grow,” Zabilski said. This year, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon will be on hand at the St. Vincent de Paul dining room when the First Watch chefs feed the hungry.
“When those cooks leave St. Vincent de Paul having cooked here all evening, they leave happy and our guests are just thrilled,” Zabilski said. “It’s just a wonderful thing to see.”
It should also be second nature, Lux said, who offered a simple explanation for the existence of Free Omelet Day.
“What it all basically comes down to is that it’s better to give than to receive,” Lux said. “That’s really the reason to do this.”
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