Xmas Trivia Night: A Steak & Inn fundraiser
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Hampton Inn & Suites’ Michelle Campbell, director of sales, and Casey Purkey, Longhorn Steakhouse culinary manager, greeted guests of a Christmas Trivia Night, raising toys for U.S. Marines Toys for Tots, at Hampton Inn & Suites Tuesday, Dec. 3. - Photos by Tammy Cheek
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Attending were Joey Ruffalo and wife, Bettina Ruffalo. - Photos by Tammy Cheek
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Trivia players Justin Knight and Alex Wehrmaker. - Photos by Tammy Cheek
Hampton Inn & Suites and Longhorn Steakhouse partnered up for Christmas Trivia Night, a fundraiser to collect Marine Corps Toys for Tots, which occurred in the hotel lobby, 11340 Campbell Lakes Drive, Tuesday evening, Dec. 3.
Michelle Campbell, director of sales for LBA Hospitality, which manages Hampton Inn & Suites, said 55 toys were collected as of Wednesday, Dec. 4.
At LBA Hospitality, “we have LBA Cares,” she said. “It’s where we do charity events. We volunteer our time to help out. All of our properties do this, so for Christmas I wanted to partner with a solid organization.
“We decided on the Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation,” Campbell added. “We are a public donation site also, so I thought it would be fun to just have an event, something where our colleagues, our friends, our family could come out and just have a couple hours of playing Christmas trivia.
“We partnered with Longhorn (Steakhouse) that provided all the food.It was just a way to get everybody together for the holidays, and to give back to the community.”
As for future plans, “This is something we’re discussing that we would like to do — something like this every quarter; pick a different organization that we can raise money for or volunteer our time,” Campbell said. “In the past, we’ve done something like Second Harvest Food Bank, so we’re looking for other organizations we can do stuff with.”
With the Dec. 3 event, “we’ve invited our guests,” she said. “One of our guests actually went nuts and bought that big Minnie Mouse car that’s out there and boxes of toys.”
Tickets to attend the event were not necessary.
“We just asked that they bring a new unwrapped toy,” Campbell said. Or, “the Foundation provided us with a QR code that can be scanned and you can donate money.”
She said one of the men from Longhorn Steakhouse said the event is very close to his heart.
Casey Purkey, Longhorn culinary manager, said until he turned 18, the Marine Corps Toys for Tots, churches and local food drives were the only ways he got toys and food for Christmas as a child.
“They supported my family all the way through school,” he recalled. “If I wasn’t eating at school, I was eating at a local kitchen.
“What I love about working at Longhorn Steakhouse is that the first (Longhorn) I was at, and even here, we have a harvest program, and all of our extra food and things we don’t use for production goes to local restaurants, local kitchens, local churches and helps feed the hungry,” Purkey said.
“The first (Longhorn) location I worked at in Morristown actually fed me at a place when I was a kid,” he added. “It was very nice to see that full circle for myself. And, when we got an opportunity today to help Toys for Tots, I was excited to do so because every toy that I had until high school was through those guys.”
