- 4th Annual Dine & Stay United Raises $54,000 for United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore -
This year marked the 4th Annual Dine & Stay United program, where restaurants and hotels in Ocean City help raise funds for United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore (UWLES). Participating businesses choose a promotional menu item or room rate to track from June 1, 2019 to September 30, 2019 and allocate a percentage of sales to go towards UWLES’ impact in Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties. In addition to local businesses, regional vendors Tito’s Vodka and the Erwin Group also contribute to the campaign.
This year eight hotels and 20 restaurants helped to raise $54,000, bringing the four year total to over $216,000 with support from sponsors Sysco, Delmarva Now, IHeartMedia and Froggy 99.9, and the OCHMRA. Hotels divisions are grouped based on the number of rooms they have and restaurant divisions are based on their seating capacity.
On January 16 the Ocean City Hotel Motel Restaurant Association (OCHMRA) hosted their January Dinner where UWLES presented awards to winners in the nine categories. This year’s winners are: Restaurants (based on seating capacity) – 0-100 Poseidon’s Pub at Ocean Downs Casino, 101-200 The Original Pool Bar & Grill at the Holiday Inn Oceanfront, 201-300 Happy Jacks Pancake House, 301-600 Harrison’s Harbor Watch Restaurant & Rawbar, 601+ Embers Restaurant. Hotels (based on rooms) – 0-50 Burgundy Inn, 51-100 Courtyard® Marriott, 101-200 Commander Hotel & Suites, 201+ Francis Scott Key Family Resort.
“Being a part of the Stay United program is such a rewarding experience for everyone involved,” said Ashley Rodriguez Johnson, Director of Sales for the Courtyard Marriott, “we as a business get to help our local community and our guests feel great about choosing to stay at our hotel because they know their stay is a part of something bigger than just a vacation to the beach.”
For more information on how you can get involved or become a participating business in the 2020 Dine & Stay United Program contact Caroline Phillips from UWLES at caroline@uwles.org or 410-742-5143.