Chocolate Chips for a Cause -- Sweet Tomatoes Hosts Annual Cookie Fundraiser to Benefit Easter Seals Services for Children and Adults with Disabilities

CHICAGO, June 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Sweet Tomatoes kicks off its annual cookie campaign for Easter Seals. Participating Sweet Tomatoes restaurants will donate $1.00 to Easter Seals for every bag of their famous homemade chocolate chip cookies purchased during the month of June.

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"We thank Sweet Tomatoes for their continued support," said James E. Williams, Jr., president and chief executive officer, Easter Seals, Inc. "Sweet Tomatoes is helping Easter Seals create life-changing solutions for children and adults with disabilities."

Sweet Tomatoes will donate all net proceeds from the campaign to local Easter Seals affiliates. Restaurant guests can support essential disability programs in their community every time they visit Sweet Tomatoes June 1 through June 30, 2012.

This is the sixth year of the Sweet Tomatoes and Easter Seals partnership with cookie campaign contributions reaching nearly $145,000 to date. With the help of generous consumers, nine Easter Seals affiliate organizations will benefit from this year's campaign.

"Sweet Tomatoes seeks to be a vital and contributing part of each community it operates," said Lesa Pickinpaugh, Director of Operations, Sweet Tomatoes. "We are proud to support Easter Seals and the services they provide in our local communities."

There are 34 Sweet Tomatoes participating in the Easter Seals partnership. Locations in Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina and Phoenix, Arizona, will be raising money for Easter Seals throughout June.

About Sweet Tomatoes
Celebrating over 30 years, Sweet Tomatoes was founded in 1978 in San Diego and currently operates 124 salad buffet-style restaurants across the western, southern and eastern portions of the United States. Sweet Tomatoes creates an exceptional, all-you-care-to-eat dining experience with a daily selection of made-from-scratch soups and salads and hand-crafted muffins, focaccia, breads and tasty desserts. By combining high-quality, farm-fresh and scratch-made foods for a fixed price, the restaurants provide guests with the freedom to create their own wholesome meals. The restaurant concept is built around fresh prepared, great-tasting recipes with a salad bar full of seasonal vegetables and tossed salads prepared exhibition-style every 20 minutes. Sweet Tomatoes restaurants are open daily for lunch and dinner. For more information, visit www.sweettomatoes.com.

About Easter Seals
Easter Seals is the leading non-profit provider of services for individuals with autism, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities and other special needs. For more than 90 years, we have been offering help, hope, and answers to children and adults living with disabilities, and to the families who love them. Through therapy, training, education and support services, Easter Seals creates life-changing solutions so that people with disabilities can live, learn, work and play in their communities. For more information visit www.easterseals.com.

SOURCE Easter Seals