Tropical Smoothie Cafe Pledges to Raise $500,000 for Camp Sunshine through National Flip Flop Day Fundraiser

ATLANTA, June 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- June 21 marks the first official day of summer, but it's also Tropical Smoothie Cafe's favorite holiday of the year – National Flip Flop Day, a system-wide in-store fundraising event celebrating open toes and open hearts for a good cause.

On this day, Tropical Smoothie Cafe will be giving away free 24 oz. Jetty Punch Smoothies, between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., to any customer wearing flip flops at participating locations. The cafes will be collecting donations for the brand's national charity partner, Camp Sunshine, the only retreat in the nation whose mission is focused solely on addressing the effects of a life-threatening illness on every member of the immediate family – the ill child, parents and siblings. Last year, Tropical Smoothie Cafe gave away close to 200,000 smoothies for the cause, which equated to approximately $1 million in free smoothies. 

From now through June 30, customers can visit their local cafe to participate in a more traditional fundraising effort and show their support for this meaningful cause by purchasing colored Paper Flip Flops for $1 or Flip Flop Key Fobs for $5. Online donations are also accepted at www.nationalflipflopday.com.

To date, Tropical Smoothie Cafe has donated more than $1.5 million to Camp Sunshine, sending 750 children and their families to experience the camp. Last year, Tropical Smoothie Cafe raised $400,000 for Camp Sunshine and the brand plans to exceed that number in 2013 by raising $500,000.

"National Flip Flop Day is about more than Tropical Smoothie Cafe. It's about sending terminally ill children and their families to Camp Sunshine where they can focus on playing and having fun, and also interact with people like themselves, who truly understand and are intimately familiar with the experiences they are going through," said Tropical Smoothie Cafe CEO Mike Rotondo. "This is my favorite time of the year because our entire franchise system bands together for one central cause; it's a beautiful thing."

About Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Established in 1997, Tropical Smoothie Cafe has taken the smoothie concept to the next level by offering diners a healthy alternative to typical fast food. The concept, which introduced food in 1999, provides consumers with a variety of high-quality real-fruit smoothies, specialty wraps, sandwiches, grilled flatbreads and salads. The company also caters. Tropical Smoothie Cafe includes menu options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For several consecutive years, Tropical Smoothie Cafe has been included in Entrepreneur magazine's "Franchise 500" list as well as ranked in the publication's "America's Top Global" franchise category. Tropical Smoothie Cafe has 339 locations open in the United States, with an additional 36 currently in development. For more information, including franchising opportunities, visit www.tropicalsmoothiecafe.com.

SOURCE Tropical Smoothie Cafe