For Immediate Release:
May 17, 2001
CONTACT: David Ong
(916)734-9049
NEW RESTAURANT TO REGULARLY DONATE PORTION OF PROCEEDS TO UC DAVIS MEDICAL CENTER
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -The UC Davis Cancer Center will receive four days' worth of proceeds from Bistro Biagio, a new restaurant inside Camellia Inn & Suites, to inaugurate a long-term arrangement in which the restaurant will contribute a portion of its food-sales proceeds monthly to support research at UC Davis Medical Center.
In advance of the restaurant's formal opening on May 25, Bistro Biagio's proceeds on May 21, 22, 23 and 24 will go to the Cancer Center. On those dates, the restaurant is offering specially discounted prices: $3 for breakfast, $5 for lunch and $10 for dinner. In the future, the restaurant will donate its food sales on the third Thursday of the month to a different department or program at the medical center.
"We are very grateful to the Rim Corporation, the parent company of Camellia Inn & Suites, for its generous, humanitarian offer," said David Maggard, chief outreach and development officer for UC Davis Health System. "The company's executive staff is demonstrating great foresight and leadership in supporting our efforts to improve health care and advance medical knowledge."
Camellia Inn & Suites is located at 4422 Y St., adjacent to UC Davis Medical Center and the Shriner's Hospital for Children Northern California. Bistro Biagio will feature Mediterranean and California cuisine and an extensive list of Italian and California wines. The restaurant's chef is the former executive chef for Scott's Seafood Bar and Grill.
Donating part of the restaurant proceeds is the latest charitable step taken by the Rim Corporation on behalf of the medical center. Last month, Camellia Inn & Suites began offering lodging at a fraction of its normal rate to families of patients at the medical center and Shriner's Hospital for Children Northern California who are unable to secure the limited amount of free or low-cost lodging available to them.
Camellia Inn & Suites, which opened in January, is offering rooms for $29 a night to individuals who cannot obtain a spot in either the Ronald McDonald House or the Kiwanis Family House. The facilities are located on UC Davis Medical Center property and offer lodging for a very low cost or for free, depending on a particular guest's ability to pay.
However, because the houses are routinely at capacity, they cannot provide lodging for everyone who needs it. The Ronald McDonald House, which offers housing to families of pediatric patients, turns away about 15 families a day, while the Kiwanis Family House, which offers lodging to families of all patients, turns away about two to three families a day.
Although both houses ask guests to pay a small fee, it is frequently waived if a guest cannot afford it.
The new hotel expects to offer 10-15 rooms a day at the $29-per-night fee, which is intended to cover the hotel's overhead costs. In a year's time, the hotel's contribution could total about half of a million dollars, according to Jay Barter, chief operations officer of the Rim Corporation, which owns the hotel.
"We discovered, shortly after our opening, that the Ronald McDonald House and the Kiwanis Family House often turn away needy, distressed families, due to a lack of space," Barter said. "Although other hotels in the area have helped out, the cost is still out of reach. We simply had to help.
"Catherine Ithurburn, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House, said, "This is a wonderfully generous gesture by the Rim Corporation that will help a lot of people who do not have many places to stay when one of their family is in the hospital. We know of instances in which families were forced to sleep in their cars because they could not find affordable lodging."
Chris Peeple, manager of the Kiwanis House, said, "Because the need for low-cost accommodations far outstrips the supply available, the Rim Corporation's offer should be tremendously helpful. When families arrive at the hospital, they are already under a great deal of stress without having to worry about where they are going to stay."
Every week, the management of Camellia Inn & Suites will forecast the number of reserved and non-reserved rooms it will have in use, then provide certificates for the reduced-price rooms.
Copies of all news releases from UC Davis Health System are available on the Web at http://news.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu