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

CHICAGO, June 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Sweet Tomatoes kicks off its annual cookie campaign for Easter Seals. This month, participating Sweet Tomatoes restaurants will offer a free bag of cookies and a coupon for a return visit as a thank you gift to guests who make a $2 donation to Easter Seals.

"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 in the Mid West and Pacific Northwest."

Sweet Tomatoes will donate one hundred percent of the proceeds from the campaign to Easter Seals. Restaurant guests can support essential disability programs in their community every time they visit Sweet Tomatoes June 1 through June 30, 2010.

This is the fourth year of the Sweet Tomatoes and Easter Seals partnership with cookie campaign contributions reaching nearly $50,000 to date. In 2009 alone, Sweet Tomatoes restaurants in the Chicago, Kansas and Missouri areas raised $26,000 for Easter Seals. With the help of generous consumers, seven 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 20 Sweet Tomatoes participating in the Easter Seals partnership. Locations in Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, Oregon, Utah and Washington will be raising money for Easter Seals throughout June.

About Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes

Celebrating over 30 years, Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes was founded in 1978 in San Diego and currently operates 115 salad buffet-style restaurants across the western, southern and eastern portions of the United States. Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes cares about what comes out of guests' wallets and into their bodies by creating 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. Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes restaurants are open daily for lunch and dinner and also for a special Sunday Breakfast that features a variety of delicious morning favorites in addition to regular selections. For more information, visit http://www.souplantation.com/ or http://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 and hope 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. Visit www.easterseals.com or http://www.actforautism.org/ to learn more about autism, find services at an Easter Seals near you, or change the lives of people living with disabilities by becoming a donor or volunteer.

SOURCE Easter Seals