Bring on the Sunshine: Wear Flip Flops, Get a Free Smoothie at Tropical Smoothie Cafe

ATLANTA, June 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- It's that time of the year again for National Flip Flop Day, a special day where Tropical Smoothie Cafe encourages customers to kick off Summer—and their shoes—for free smoothies and a good cause.

On Friday, June 20, customers who stop by any participating Tropical Smoothie Cafe location nationwide between the hours of 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. wearing flip flops will receive a free 24 oz. Jetty Punch Smoothie. During this time, customers can show their support for Camp Sunshine. Customers who purchase a $5 flip flop key fob will be rewarded with a 10 percent discount on all future purchases through the end of the year. Online donations are also accepted at www.nationalflipflopday.com.

This is the eighth consecutive year in which Tropical Smoothie Cafe is committed to bringing on the sunshine for kids with life-threatening illnesses and their families. The goal this year is to raise more than $600,000 to benefit Camp Sunshine. 

"We are proud to support Camp Sunshine and everything the organization stands for," said Tropical Smoothie Cafe CEO Mike Rotondo. "Camp Sunshine gives kids with life-threatening illnesses and their families a much-needed break. It's a chance to leave behind the doctor visits, medical tests and anxious waits for results – if only for a week."

For more than 25 years, Camp Sunshine has offered kids and their families a getaway from the difficulties of their everyday lives. Located on the shores of Lake Sebago in Maine, Camp Sunshine is the only nonprofit organization in the nation whose mission is to address the impact of a life-threatening illness on every member of the immediate family. Parents receive support from medical staff and others who can relate to what they are going through first-hand, while kids get to be kids, have fun, and get away from the stresses of everyday life living with their unique disorders.

Families like the Fishers have been going to Camp Sunshine for several years. Their son, Joshua, has been battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a blood cancer in which cancer cells penetrate every part of his body, since age 2. The Fishers say, "When your child is very sick, it becomes very lonesome for the child and for the family as it becomes very isolating. Camp Sunshine brings families together that all experience the same thing. It enables our entire family to have so much fun. There are very few places we can go that we can all be together and relax due to the fact there is a physician there and everybody there knows what it means to have a child that is sick. Camp Sunshine has brought so much happiness to our lives, and we are grateful that Tropical Smoothie Cafe has been so gracious and enabled families like ours to have these fantastic memories."

The cost of sending one child with a life-threatening illness and their family to this special retreat for a week is $2,000, and Camp Sunshine relies on donations from corporate supporters, like Tropical Smoothie Cafe, and individual donors to continue to offer its programs free-of-charge.

"Camp Sunshine is a lifeline for so many families, giving them the gift of treasured memories and precious time with the ones they love and others that can relate," said Rotondo. "With the help of our customers, we hope to send even more families to this wonderful camp this year."

To date, Tropical Smoothie Cafe has donated more than $2 million to Camp Sunshine, sending 1,000 children and their families to experience the camp. Last year, Tropical Smoothie Cafe raised a record-breaking $515,000 for Camp Sunshine and the brand plans to exceed that number in 2014 by raising $600,000 which would cover the costs to send 300 families to the camp.

For more information about National Flip Flop Day and how to help support Camp Sunshine, please visit your nearest cafe or go to www.nationalflipflopday.com.

About Tropical Smoothie Cafe
Founded in 1999, Tropical Smoothie Cafe is a fast-casual restaurant concept whose franchise partners inspire healthy lifestyles in communities across the country. Catering to all day-parts, Tropical Smoothie Cafe serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, including smoothies, salads, wraps, sandwiches, flatbreads and more. The fast-growing franchise has 380 locations nationwide and has won numerous awards including: Entrepreneur 2014 Franchise 500; Nation's Restaurant News 2013 Top 200; Tropical Smoothie Cafe is currently awarding franchises throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.tropicalsmoothie.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contact:
Alicia Aldrich
Fishman Public Relations
(847) 945-1300 ext. 246
[email protected]

Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0DdCas55A0

SOURCE Tropical Smoothie Cafe