Hooters Presents $52K To Moffitt Cancer Center From Fundraiser

TAMPA, FL — Representatives from Hooters Management Corp. including co-founder Ed Droste presented a donation of $52,905 to the Moffitt Cancer Center.

The presentation was held over Zoom on Feb 1. Proceeds were from the 2019 “Give a Hoot” program and support a grant awarded through the V Foundation for Cancer Research. This donation will go toward the cutting-edge work Moffitt researchers and physicians are doing to ensure patients are receiving the very best cancer care today and leading to new breakthroughs tomorrow.

“Hooters and the V Foundation are longtime supporters of Moffitt and the breast oncology program,” said Maria Muller, president of the Moffitt Cancer Center Foundation. “Their generous support makes a critical impact in our ability to fund lifesaving cancer research and share those advances with our patients.”

The grant was awarded to Dr. Hatem Soliman, medical director of clinical trials in Moffitt’s breast oncology program.

Also joining Droste and Soliman for the virtual presentation were Carole Wegner, senior vice president of research and grants administration for the V Foundation for Cancer Research as well as Moffitt Cancer Center representatives Dr. Avan Armaghani of the Department of Breast Oncology; Amanda Hollis, director of Foundation Giving, and Moffitt patient Aazam Touradji.

The grant will support a breast cancer project at Moffitt designed to enhance participation in, and awareness of, clinical trials. Through a patient education and pre-screening program, Moffitt has been able to increase clinical trial recruitments, and bring hope to many more patients and their families.

Since 2002, Hooters Management Corp. has donated more than $912,905 to Moffitt Cancer Center.

The “Give a Hoot” program is held annually at all Hooters restaurants in honor of Hooters Management Corp.’s own Kelly Jo Dowd, who was a 1995 Hooters Calendar Cover Girl and, ultimately, general manager of the Palm Harbor restaurant.

Dowd died from breast cancer in 2007.

Fundraisers are held every year in Hooters locations nationwide that include buying pink bracelets, a percentage of proceeds from specific drinks, rounding up your check, and $1 from every Hooters calendar sold.

Hooters has raised more than $6.5 million to support the fight against breast cancer, much of it through the Kelly Jo Dowd Breast Cancer Research Fund benefiting the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

The donations were collected nationwide in conjunction with the V Foundation.

Each Hooters franchisee group then designates a cancer research center to which 100 percent of the money raised is donated. Money raised by Hooters Management Corp.’s 24 locations benefit Moffitt Cancer Center.

Hooters Management Corp. owns and operates 24 Hooters Restaurant locations in Tampa Bay, Chicago and Manhattan along with four Hoots, a quick service restaurant serving Hooters’ most popular menu items.

See related story: Breast Cancer Campaign Pays Tribute To 1995 Hooters Calendar Girl