Graffam Bros. Harborside Restaurant announces nonprofit partners for 2014 fundraiser

Started last winter, the restaurant’s Community Connections program offers supporters a chance to raise money for local groups just by eating at the Camden restaurant

CAMDEN — Graffam Bros. Harborside Restaurant in Camden has released their list of 2014 Community Connections program partners. Started last winter, the program invites local, nonprofit organizations to gather their supporters on Tuesday evenings throughout the winter for dinner at Harborside Restaurant. Simply by eating at Harborside on the specified evening, supporters will help their favorite organization receive up to 50 percent of that night's receipts to support their work in the community. In its first year, the program raised over $11,000 for the local community.

For the 2014 program, Harborside received 28 applications for the ten available evenings.

According to Kim Graffam, co-owner of Graffam Bros. Harborside Restaurant, the selection process was very difficult. "We took an entire afternoon to make these selections,” stated Graffam in a news release. “It was very difficult. Every application was from an organization we knew did great things in our community. We had a very hard time narrowing the list down to ten, in fact it was so hard in the end we decided to add one more evening and host eleven this year."

The schedule for the 2014 Community Connections Evenings is:

• January 7 — Pope Memorial Humane Society

• January 14 — Peopleplace Cooperative Preschool
• January 21 — New Hope for Women
• January 28 — Kiwanis Club of Rockland
• February 4 — Trekkers, Inc.
• February 11 — Aldermere Farms
• February 18 — Coastal Opportunities
• February 25 — Hospitality House
• March 4 — MCH Meals on Wheels
• March 11 — Penobscot Bay YMCA
• March 18 — Make-A-Wish

Everyone in the community is welcome to support their favorite organization by eating dinner at Harborside between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. on one or more of these nights. Graffam Bros. Harborside Restaurant is located at 16 Bayview Landing in Camden, off the Public Landing Parking Lot on the ground floor of the Grand Harbor Inn building. For more information, contact the restaurant at 706-4999.