Caring For Kids Taking Over Ram Tonight to Help Needy Children

It’s food and fun for a cause.

Tonight, Caring For Kids will take over the Lakewood for its annual Oktoberfest event. Between 4-9 p.m., 10 percent of all sales of food, liquor, beer and wine will be donated to the organization, which serves needy children in Lakewood, Steilacoom and University Place.

And the money couldn’t come at a more crucial time, said Caring For Kids founder Diane Formoso.

Since school began on Sept. 7 in the Clover Park School District, she has received nearly 250 requests for clothing-bank orders, which provide everything from socks and underwear to shoes for students who otherwise would go without. Add that to the increasing number of orders for emergency-food packs, and you hear Formoso utter a word that doesn’t often cross her lips.

“It’s pretty much overwhelming,” she said. “And I’m not easily overwhelmed.”

“Every day, I am getting calls from the schools saying there are people who don’t have electricity, or food, and it’s just every day,” she said. “It’s worse this year than ever before.”

Adding to the organization’s challenges is the loss of longtime members June Williams and Lois Hosking, while driving back from California on Sept. 24.

“To lose June and Lois on top of everything,” Formoso said, “it’s really been tough.”

Donna Santiago, general manager of the Ram, said that Formoso’s dedication to local children in the face of adversity is the driving catalyst for why the restaurant teams with Caring For Kids for the yearly event.

“It’s a great program that Diane runs that gives back to our local schools, so it’s kind of a win-win situation,” she said. “We get to help the kids, and we get business – and hopefully with great service, great business comes back to us later on.”

Santiago said that the event is always a big draw and that they staff accordingly.

“We want to make sure everybody gets taken care of,” she said. “(The takeover) increases our sales for a normal Tuesday, so we hope for the return business. If our guests know the Ram is active in the community, they will come back on another day when it is not necessarily for promotional purposes.”

Santiago also said that the takeover benefits the Ram by drawing in new patrons.

“With the military being so close, we get so many new families,” she said. “It builds a rapport, and if they like the Ram and want to return, it seems to come back tenfold.”

In addition to proceeds from the Ram, Caring For Kids will also be selling angels and lanterns, and holding a raffle with items including a $100 Macy’s gift card, $50 Black Angus gift card and wine baskets. Tickets are $1.

“It should be a fun evening,” Formoso said.

And not surprisingly, she already has plans for the money that will be raised tonight, namely shoes and coats in all sizes.

“It’s really bad,” she said. “I can’t emphasize that enough, and these kids don’t have a voice. They can’t say anything; they are stuck. They can’t go out and get a job; they don’t have anyone to turn to.”

Reservations are not required for the Ram takeover tonight.