 On Thursday, February 16th, Isaac’s Famous Grilled Sandwiches presented a check for $2,616 to Greater Berks Food Bank. This money that was raised by the Wyomissing Isaac’s location during January’s “Buy Soup, Feed Hungry Kids!” campaign. Peg Bianca, Executive Director of Greater Berks Food Bank, and Bob Barto, Board President, accepted the check from Phil Wenger, President of Isaac’s, and Ray Metzger II, General Manager of Wyomissing Isaac’s.
This money has been earmarked for the food bank’s “Weekender Backpack” program cr eated to meet the needs of hungry children and their families, in Berks County, when other resources are not available, such as weekends and school vacations. Backpacks are filled with enough food for 6 meals and 2 snacks and include a non-food item (toilet paper, shampoo, toothbrush, etc.) and are distributed to low-income elementary school children at 13 sites throughout Berks and Schuylkill Counties. Approximately 1,400 backpacks are distributed each week. Find out how you can volunteer or make a donation by calling Greater Berks Food Bank at 610-926-5802 or visit www.berksfoodbank.org to learn more!
Isaac’s “Buy Soup, Feed Hungry Kids!” campaign raised $39,181, company-wide, for organizations in South Central Pennsylvania with programs feeding hungry kids. In addition to Greater Berks Food Bank, checks will be presented to Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Chester County Food Bank and Power Packs Project in Lancaster. Look for more presentations to be posted in our blog and visit our website www.isaacsdeli.com/BuySoupFeedKids for more info.
 This past Wednesday, January 18th, Isaac’s received the “Spirit of Lancaster” award at the 2011 United Way of Lancaster County’s Thank You Celebration. The highest tribute for corporate involvement, this award honors a business or organization, and its employees, for making a powerful difference in the community through dedication to advancing the common good and by delivering outstanding Campaign results.
 During the 2011 Campaign for the 2012 calendar year, 97% of Isaac’s employees pledged to donate in 2012 to United Way. With an employee base that is very young and in a time that is still financially shaky, these results are nothing short of amazing…but than again, our employees are amazing! Especially when you consider how many of them volunteer their time and energy throughout the year and how hard they work at making all of Isaac’s fundraising projects a success.
Debra Miller accepted this award on behalf of Isaac’s and it was only fitting. As Isaac’s Community Care Coordinator, Debra not only spearheads our yearly United Way Drive but she also coordinates all the Community Night Fundraisers throughout the company… this program alone raises over $100,000 each year in donations for non-profit organizations all over South Central Pennsylvania! In addition, Debra heads up Isaac’s CRAVE Team which is in charge of creating numerous volunteer opportunities for employees in the communities where they live and work.
So congratulations and thanks to Debra and all the Isaac’s employees who helped our company get this award!
 As part of our January “Buy Soup, Feed Hungry Kids!” campaign, on January 6, 2012, four employees from our Spring Ridge and Ephrata Isaac’s volunteered at Greater Berks Food Bank to pack up items for their Weekender Backpack Program. They packed over 750 grocery bags with apples, carrots, juice boxes and string cheese for children at a local inner city elementary school in Reading.
Children took home the food on Friday so they had food to eat over the weekend and could come back to school, Monday morning, with a full stomach…ready to learn!
 Fun Fact: The juice boxes were Flamingo Juice boxes!!
Be sure to stop in at your favorite Isaac’s during January and buy a cup or bowl of soup with your favorite grilled sandwich or large green salad and we’ll donate $1 to programs, like Greater Berks Food Bank’s Weekender Back Pack Program, that feed hungry kids all over South Central Pennsylvania.
Visit www.isaacsdeli.com to learn more and see all the organizations Isaac’s 20 locations are helping!
 On Tuesday, December 20th, Isaac’s employees from locations in the Harrisburg & York area and Central Office volunteered at New Hope Ministries in Mechanicsburg. The volunteers started off by packing bags with vitamins for children along with info on healthy eating.
Next they worked on sorting and packing items for the  Central Pennsylvania Food Bank’s “Power Pack Program” which provides backpacks of food for at-risk children for the weekend. Organizations, such as New Hope Ministries, sign up to be Power Pack sites where the food is pre-packed and distributed to the kids who need it.
It was a great way for Isaac’s employees to get excited for the upcoming “Share The Warmth” campaign starting January 1st, 2012. The theme is “Buy Soup, Feed Hungry Kids!” and for every cup or bowl of soup sold with a sandwich or large green salad in January, Isaac’s will donate $1 to programs, like the Power Pack Program, that feed hungry kids in Central Pennsylvania.
In addition to Central Pennsylvania Food Bank’s Power Pack Program, Isaac’s will be donating to Greater Berks Food Bank’s Weekender Backpack Buddy Program, Chester County Food Bank’s Weekend Food Backpack Program and the Power Packs Project in Lancaster. Check back soon for more information…and definitely remember to Buy Soup, Feed Hungry Kids in January at Isaac’s!
 On December 4th, a group of 14 employees and friends volunteered at the holiday party for Celebrate Down Syndrome, a parent group that meets to offer support, friendship, and education as well as sharing the wonderful accomplishments of their children with Down Syndrome.
Our fun afternoon included arts and crafts with the children, games and indoor bowling,  celebrating Santa’s arrival with gifts, refreshments, Christmas carols with instruments, and playing (and hugging!) these beautiful children.
Thank you, employees of Strasburg, Granite Run, Spring Ridge and the Central Office for spreading holiday cheer to these special families.
To learn more about “Celebrate Down Syndrome”, visit www.celebrateds.org .
 Isaac's Employees at Capital Region "Day of Caring" Eight Isaac’s employees participated in a rescheduled Capital Region “Day of Caring” on October 18th at the United Methodist Home for Children in Mechanicsburg. UMHC provides emergency shelter, residential treatment, and individual and family counseling for hundreds of children each year. Our employees took out old carpet and worked on painting projects in the administration building. Harrisburg District Isaac’s also collected toiletries for the residents.
 Tessa and Dorrie tackle a painting project! Captained by Tessa Price, GM at Rossmoyne Isaac’s, she was joined by Sherri Esbenshade, Amber Corey, Vicki Pakosh, Neal Swiler, Jesse Motter, Dorrie Courogen and Greg Drake.
Thank You, Harrisburg District employees, for caring about your local community!
 Vicki works on removing carpet staples!
Filbert, our Flamingo mascot, has been talking about it on Facebook and I’m sure some of you saw the article in the Lancaster Sunday News…our Mt. Joy Isaac’s is finally open! I had lunch on the patio on opening day and LOVED it! The colors, artwork, and layout…everything about this new Isaac’s has me enamored. But what really impresses me is that, just like our Hershey Isaac’s, this restaurant has our Greener Flamingo logo on it’s entry wall!
Over two years ago, we created a committee to come up with ways to become greener….and the Greener Flamingo Initiative was born! It’s now a symbol of  Isaac’s commitment to be environmentally-responsible by exploring greener technology that will benefit our employees, our customers, our communities and our Earth. We use the Greener Flamingo logo to show where we’ve lessened our carbon footprint. Many of our committee’s ideas were incorporated into our Hershey Isaac’s last year and now into Mt. Joy as well.
A new green design we’re using in Mt. Joy is “hyper-recycling” (don’t bother Googling this word yet…as it’s a Greg Drake, our Senior Manager of Facilities and Purchasing, original!), where the goal is to take products that we would normally send to a facility for recycling (and possibly ending up in a landfill) and recycle them ourselves! Our countertops, booth wall caps, bathroom vanities, and pillar caps on the patio are all made out of concrete, old plates and broken glass collected from our restaurants!
Some other greener elements you’ll find at Mt. Joy Isaac’s are…
- Bathrooms that feature lighting controlled with occupancy sensors, automatic sensor faucets and low-flow plumbing fixtures.
- Building materials made with recycled content (table tops, acoustical ceiling tiles, dining room carpeting, etc.
- A rock garden around the patio to capture rainwater runoff from the roof.
- Stained concrete floor to avoid using new raw materials.
- Highly-efficient HVAC equipment & controls.
- Use of a new non-ozone depleting refrigerant.
- A combination of CO2 sensors & dual enthalpy economizers.
Just taking over an existing building and remodeling it instead of using new materials to build a new building is a green feature itself!
If you want to learn more about the Greener Flamingo visit www.isaacsdeli.com/GreenerFlamingo.asp Also, be sure to keep checking back with this blog and our Facebook page for updates.
 Some of the houses being painted as part of Berks County's "Day of Caring" On September 14th, seven employees and friends of Wyomissing Isaac’s participated in United Way of Berks County‘s annual “Day of Caring.” Our “Let’s Paint the Town” project had our employees painting the outside of a home in the Center Point neighborhood, under the umbrella of West Reading’s Elm Street Neighborhood Advisory Committee.
There was an immediate and dramatic improvement to the entire block in just one day when, collectively, 72 Day of Caring volunteers helped improve 11 properties. Ten of them had their complete facades painted, including accent colors for each one, and another property had the entire building painted.
 Candace Sahtout, AGM at Wyomissing Isaac's, looks like a painting pro here! Isaac’s encourages and celebrates employees who volunteer in their local communities. Our participants were: Ray and Melissa Metzger, Scott Wode, Candace Sahtout, Emily Kline, Tyler Light and Tim.
 Tyler Light, Wyomissing Isaac's Kitchen Manager, makes this look so easy!
 Group shot of the Isaac's volunteers. On Saturday, September 10th, 19 Isaac’s employees and their children joined 100+ volunteers from other community-minded businesses in United Way of Lancaster County’s annual “Day of Caring.” We spent the morning at Schreiber Pediatric Rehab Center counting the 25,000 rubber duckies we rescued from the Conestoga River during their annual “Rubber Duckie Race” in July, then put the ducks in numerical order and bagged them until next year’s race!
 First we counted the duckies! Our employees and their children had a great time together, making our local community just a little better for all of us!
 And then the counting began!
A big thank you goes out to our fans in Lancaster County who recently voted for Isaac’s as their favorite in 3 different categories in Lancaster Newspapers 11th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards! Isaac’s was voted Favorite Business Lunch, Favorite Casual Restaurant and Favorite Deli! What an honor!
And we wouldn’t have such great fans without the wonderful employees at our 7 Lancaster locations. A big thank you goes out to them as well. They work hard each day to make sure our customers get the best food and the best service and it’s their dedication and commitment that wins us awards like these.
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On Thursday, February 16th, Isaac’s Famous Grilled Sandwiches presented a check for $2,616 to Greater Berks Food Bank. This money that was raised by the Wyomissing Isaac’s location during January’s “Buy Soup, Feed Hungry Kids!” campaign. Peg Bianca, Executive Director of Greater Berks Food Bank, and Bob Barto, Board President, accepted the check from Phil Wenger, President of Isaac’s, and Ray Metzger II, General Manager of Wyomissing Isaac’s.
