Boston's restaurant helps with charity event

Just in time to get into the holiday spirit, a local charity teamed up with Boston's restaurant to clothe more than 1,000 children.

The sixth annual "Around the Block" event was hosted by Kids Matter International (KMI), Boston's Restaurant & Sports Bar and Kohls. The event was held Nov. 13 at Kohl's Southlake store.

"We started setting up at lunchtime with tents for registration and had food set out. The first groups of people were supposed to be there about 4:30 but people started coming at 2 p.m.," said Mike Best, COO, Boston's Restaurant & Sports Bar. "Eligible children were preregistered throughout the year. KMI found families who were eligible to participate and were in need of extra help this holiday season."

Each North Texas participating child received $100 to spend on clothing at Kohl's Southlake. For the third-consecutive year, Boston's partnered with KMI to support the event. Boston's raised $70,000 at its annual Boston's Pizza Foundation's Golf Classic. The main beneficiary was KMI. In addition, Boston's had more than 100 volunteers on-site to assist the families during their shopping experience.

"With the proceeds from the tournament in September, we presented a check last Friday to KMI, but the chance to see the expressions on the children's faces is too good to pass up," Best said. "A lot of times what's being done here is all the children are going to get for Christmas. Being able to do that for them is amazing - there's nothing like it."

After registering, children were given vouchers worth $100 to go shopping in Kohls. A volunteer accompanied each family and helped them shop and keep track of how much was spent. About 600 volunteers from Boston's and KMI were involved in helping 1,170 children.

"We had about 30 envelopes not claimed and sometimes that's because of a transportation issue," Best said. "KMI will go back to the schools and allow those students to come into store at a later date if sickness or transportation was an issue."

During the event, Santa Claus comes to the store in a Southlake fire truck.

"The children love seeing Santa at these events," Best said.

Best said the event was finished by 10 p.m. In year's past, it's been closer to midnight. He said it's becoming a smoother operation.

"It took a lot of coordination, and Kohls was a great help," Best said.

Best said the first year Boston's helped with the event, 749 children were clothed. Last year, 1029 children received new clothes.

"It's increased each year, and we expect it to keep increasing," Best said. "Most of the children are from Tarrant County, so it's really a local effort."

In addition to receiving funds from Boston's, Kohls participates through its Kohls Cares Foundation.

"The most impactful is not the words, it's having little kids come up and hug my leg. This isn't something we force our employees to do, it's really a group effort and everyone wants to help," Best said. "We will continue to do this for foreseeable future. We like the people we deal with and love the feeling we get from having the event."

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