RSVVP Day Proceeds to Aid IFC

Chapel Hill and Carrboro restaurants will donate 10 percent of their total profits to the Inter-Faith Council in Chapel Hill as part of the 13th annual Restaurants Sharing V (5) plus V (5) Percent Day.

Patrons can eat in the restaurant or take their food out, and a portion of the proceeds will directly benefit the IFC Family Emergency Food Pantry and Community Kitchen.

This year, 75 local restaurants are participating in RSVVP Day, down from last year's 105 eateries.

Restaurants in Raleigh and Durham also will be participating in RSVVP Day to benefit their own local charities.

Local program organizers attribute the drop in participation to the slowing economy and the recent attention to national concerns.

"Everyone's been preoccupied with the weakening economy, recent terrorist attacks, and today's plane crash isn't helping any," Betty Longiotti, RSVVP chairwoman for Chapel Hill and Carrboro, said Monday.

Longiotti said national relief efforts provide an opportunity for residents to help out on a local level and address community needs.

"When we have a lot of things on our mind, it's good to go out and get a good meal with friends," Longiotti said.

"When we go out to eat, then the restaurants get good business, and then the people who can't go out to eat can be fed."

Since RSVVP's inception in 1989, similar hunger relief programs also have been organized by the Food Bank of North Carolina in Raleigh and St. Philip's Community Kitchen in Durham.

Chapel Hill IFC officials say they have noticed a continual increase in the number of clients in the Community Kitchen and Food Pantry.

Chris Moran, executive director of the IFC, said requests from people needing food have increased by 56 percent.

"Our economy is doing really bad now in North Carolina, and this is even before September 11," he said.

Moran also said the public's shift in focus to national issues has resulted in a neglect of local needs.

"Our attention is changing, and now we're not paying enough attention to local issues that need to be addressed," he said.

Last year, the RSVVP raised more than $36,000 for local service organizations in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill-Carrboro. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro program raised $22,023.

Longiotti said she hopes to meet or exceed the total that the fund-raiser generated last year.

"If people respond well to the needy in our community, we will do well," she said.

Local RSVVP restaurant participants say they might see a slight increase in business today, but none have planned efforts to generate additional clients.

"(Business) might be a little more, but it's pretty much going to be a regular day," said Michael Waudby, general manager of Franklin Street Pizza & Pasta, one of the local restaurants participating in RSVVP.

Longiotti said she hopes patrons will not only support local restaurant business but also remember the continuous fight against hunger.

"We can all look forward to a nice breakfast, lunch and dinner, but not everybody has that option."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.