What Every Calendar Puts Into the Fight

Give A Hoot

For Kelly Jo

The calendar has always been about more than the photos. Every October, for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Hooters runs a campaign called Give A Hoot to raise money and awareness for the fight against breast cancer. It runs across the whole company: pink drinks on the menu, guests rounding up their checks, endowment cards on the wall. And the calendar is one of the biggest pieces of it. A dollar from every one sold goes straight to the cause.

Why it’s personal

It’s personal for us. The campaign honors Kelly Jo Dowd, one of the original Hooters Girls and our 1995 cover model. She fought breast cancer for years, and instead of going quiet she spent that time as an advocate, pushing early detection and education for the women around her, before passing in 2007. The fund named in her honor, part of the Hooters Community Endowment Fund, keeps that work going.

She called them her sisters, and the campaign still works to reach every one of them.

That mission carries to the hundreds of thousands of current and former Hooters Girls who came after her. The money also ends up where it counts. Most of what we raise goes to the V Foundation for Cancer Research, founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano. Because their endowment covers operating costs, 100% of every direct donation goes to research and programs, from early detection to personalized treatment. Over the years, the Hooters family has raised millions for the cause. So when you flip a page, you’re part of that.

Ways to help

• Pick up a Hooters Calendar. A dollar from every one goes to the cause.
• Round up your check next time you’re in. Every bit adds up.
• Give directly at hooters.com/give.