Breast Cancer Campaign Pays Tribute To 1995 Hooters Calendar Girl

CLEARWATER, FL — To the Hooters Management Corp., the staff at its 24 Hooters restaurants in Tampa Bay, Chicagoland and Manhattan aren't simply employees. They're family.

This was especially true of Palm Harbor resident Kelly Jo Dowd, who acted as a surrogate sister and mother to the hundreds of Hooters Girls she worked alongside during her more than 10 years as a Hooters employee.

Dowd was the 1995 Hooters Calendar Cover Girl and went on to become the general manager of the Palm Harbor Hooters until she lost her battle with breast cancer in 2007 at age 42.

Although Dowd's life was cut short, her memory lives on in a companywide campaign that has raised millions of dollar for breast cancer detection and research.

Through the Kelly Jo Dowd Breast Cancer Research Fund and other efforts honoring Dowd's fight against breast cancer, the more than 340 Hooters restaurants around the world have raised more than $5.8 million for the V Foundation for Cancer Research, one of the nation’s leading cancer research funding organizations.

Hooters kicks off its 2019 Give a Hoot breast cancer fundraising campaign the month with the unveiling and sale of its 2020 Hooters Calendar featuring models selected from the restaurant chain's staff of servers and hostesses. For every calendar sold, $1 goes to the Kelly Jo Dowd Breast Cancer Research Fund.

Clearwater resident Somer Bishop, who was selected as Miss January for the 2020 calendar, is well aware of the role she plays in carrying on Dowd's legacy.

"I feel very empowered and blessed to represent Hooters in this way," she said. Like Dowd, Bishop said, "I hope to be the type of role model future Hooters girls can look up to."

While working at the Original Hooters in Clearwater for the past year, Bishop attends St. Petersburg College, where she's studying interior design. In her spare time, she's involved in Habitat for Humanity and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.

Some 200 Hooters Girls from 10 countries are represented in the 2020 calendar. The calendars are available for $14.99 at all Tampa Bay Hooters locations and online.

In addition to calendar sales, Hooters restaurants around the country are raising money through the sale of pink bracelets, a percentage of drink sales and by rounding up customers' checks. The company's goal this year is to raise $1 million for the fight against breast cancer.

“We are excited for this year’s Hooters Calendar and look forward to raising funds to support breast cancer research," said Chuck Melcher, owner and publisher of the Hooters Calendar.

Patrons will have the opportunity to have their calendars signed during autograph sessions with Hooters Girls featured in this year’s calendar. Hooters Calendar Girls also will participate in charity outreach and community events. For a full list of 2020 Hooters Calendar events, or to make a donation, click here.

Dowd's memory remains at the heart of the fundraising campaign, Hooters co-founder Ed Droste said.

"Always an inspiration to her fellow Hooters Girls, Kelly Jo valiantly battled breast cancer for five years before succumbing on May 24, 2007," he said. "Throughout her struggle, she was courageous and selfless, becoming an advocate for early detection, education and fundraising. Her influence on Hooters’ culture of service remains as strong as ever."

He said the Kelly Jo Dowd Foundation continues that mission, helping to educate women, especially Dowd's extended family of 300,000 current and former Hooters Girls, about the importance of early detection and prevention.

Last month, Droste and other representatives of the Hooters Management Corp. presented a $45,955 check to the Moffitt Cancer Center — $35,955 of which was raised through the 2018 Give A Hoot calendar sales and fundraisers with an additional $10,000 donated by the management group.

The funds will be used by Dr. Hatem Soliman, medical director of clinical trials in Moffitt’s Breast Oncology Program, to raise awareness and increase participation in breast cancer clinical trials.

Since 2002, Hooters Management Corp. has donated more than $860,000 to Moffitt Cancer Center, the group's designated recipient of the Give a Hoot campaign.

“This gift will propel the cutting-edge work our researchers and clinicians are doing every day to advance patient care and cancer research,” said Maria Muller, president of the Moffitt Cancer Center Foundation. “We are incredibly grateful to Hooters and the V Foundation for supporting Moffitt so generously.”