October 21, 2021
Over $68,000 in donations presented to Miami Cancer Institute, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and Girls Scouts of Southeast Florida
(South Florida) Nine Hooters Girls from South Florida and around the country participated in the Hooters Calendar Launch that kicked off on October 1st. As part of the festivities South Florida Hooters presented over $68,000 in donations to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Miami Cancer Institute and Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida.
The group of nine calendar girls including 2022 Calendar Cover Girl and 2021 Miss Hooters International Gianna Tulio (Boca Raton), Centerfold Deeanna Krakowski (Weston) and Miss March Sloan Miavitz (Sarasota) delivered meals prepared by Hooters of Pembroke Pines to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital on October 1. In addition to the meals for the children and their families, South Florida Hooters presented a $5,000 donation to be used for a STEM Lab in the classroom at the hospital. The group also provided arts and crafts and additional gifts for the patients during their visit.
“As one of our most loyal partners we thank our local Hooters Restaurants and their staff for their ongoing support of the children and families cared for at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. They have supported us for many years in so many ways. Not only have they been generous with monetary donations, they routinely donate meals for our families, volunteer at our fundraising events and are always happy to do arts and crafts with our patients when able. We appreciate their ongoing support and are very thankful to be a recipient of their generosity,” said Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Director of Annual Giving Jackie Johnstone.
That evening, during the 2022 Hooters Calendar Launch at the Hooters of Weston, South Florida Hooters presented a donation of $48,000 to Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Health from their 2020 Kelly Jo Dowd fundraising efforts. $1 of every Hooters Calendar sold supports the Kelly Jo Dowd Breast Cancer Research Fund benefiting the V Foundation for Cancer Research as part of Hooters #GiveAHoot fundraising efforts. The 2021 Give A Hoot campaign honors the late Kelly Jo Dowd, an original Hooters Girl, the 1995 Hooters Calendar Cover Girl and Hooters first female General Manager in Palm Harbor. Dowd succumbed to breast cancer in 2007.
"Our research aims to improve the outcomes of underserved women who are diagnosed with early stage breast cancer by decreasing the overall treatment time, providing treatment at no cost to the patients, ensuring high quality evidence based care, and involving patient navigators to enhance the patient experience. The support of the V foundation and Hooters is instrumental in our mission as it directly funds our work to better understand and address the health disparities that disproportionately affect Hispanic and black women in South Florida,” said Jessika A. Contreras, MD, Miami Cancer Institute.
Hooters has raised more than $7.2 million over time to support the fight against breast cancer, much of it through the Kelly Jo Dowd Breast Cancer Research Fund benefiting the V Foundation for Cancer Research. The donations are collected nationwide with grants honoring Kelly Jo to further her mission to educate all women, especially her extended family consisting of some 300,000 current and former Hooters Girls, about the importance of early detection and prevention.
During the event, South Florida Hooters also presented a donation of $15,000 to the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida. South Florida Hooters locations partnered with the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida to help with their annual cookie sale fundraising efforts. South Florida Hooters matched every box sold at the restaurants cookie booths in 2021. “Our experience partnering with Hooters during the 2021 Cookie Sale Program activity was incredibly positive! Local Girl Scout troops and their families had the opportunity to host Cookie Booths at a variety of locations in January and February. The Hooters staff was warm and welcoming and restaurant diners generously supported cookie sales,” said Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida Chief Operating Officer Lori Sullivan. South Florida Hooters also presented a donation this year for $15,000 to the Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida.
“Giving back to our community is a priority of South Florida Hooters. We enjoyed the opportunity to include Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Heath, Girl Scouts of South Florida and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital as part of our 2022 Hooters Calendar Launch Celebration,” said LTP Management Director of Marketing Kristi Quarles.
The Hooters Calendar Girls who participated in the events are 2022 Calendar Cover Girl and 2021 Miss Hooters International Gianna Tulio (Boca Raton, Fla.); Centerfold Deeanna Krakowski (Weston, Fla.); Miss March Sloan Miavitz (Sarasota, Fla.); October Give A Hoot Feature Breyale Jenkins (Orlando, Fla.); Miss October Eden Davis (Abilene, Texas); Miss February Jennifer Koenig (Tucson, Ariz.); Miss November Kaitlin Crombie (Atlantic City, N.J.); Miss September Ireland Dabydeen (Madeira Beach, Fla.) and Miss August Nadira Dunn (Houston, Texas). In addition to the 2022 Hooters Calendar Launch charitable outreach, calendar girls participated in autograph signings at several South Florida Hooters locations including Weston, Boca Raton, Cypress Creek and Pembroke Pines. The 2022 Hooters Calendars are now available at all Hooters locations nationwide and hooterscalendar.com. The calendar features 200 Hooters Girls from across the country. The calendar is $13.95 and offers over $100 worth of coupons inside.
