Golden Corral and non-profit organization Disabled American Veterans (DAV) are joining forces with Americana band The Sweet Tea Project, featuring Ed Roland, to raise money for America’s military heroes. Golden Corral will offer a free download of The Sweet Tea Project’s new song “Coming Home” to anyone at their restaurants who donates to DAV leading up to Golden Corral’s Military Appreciation Night event on Monday, November 13, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Golden Corral will serve a free dinner buffet with beverage from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday, November 13 to any person who is or has served in a United States Military branch, including the National Guard and Reserves. State and local DAV representatives will be on-site at all Golden Corral locations coordinating the collection of donations from customers. Now in its 17th consecutive year, Golden Corral has served more than five million complimentary meals to military personnel and generated nearly $13 million in guest contributions for DAV through Military Appreciation Night.
The “Coming Home” video can be viewed here. Roland penned “Coming Home” as a tribute to the armed forces on their journeys back home. “Each time I fly into the Atlanta airport, I am so moved by the USO greeting our troops home,” he says. “This is a song of appreciation and gratitude to the men and women who leave their homes and families to fight for our freedoms every day. Like me, Golden Corral has always been a long-standing supporter of our military and I am honored to be partnering with them to raise money for these heroes through DAV.“
“Military Appreciation Night is an opportunity for Golden Corral restaurant teams to honor our nation’s heroes with a complimentary dinner buffet and beverage, while also raising funds for DAV. We are grateful to partner with The Sweet Tea Project this year during Military Appreciation Night to help us raise even more funds to support the community-based service initiatives for veterans,” said Lance Trenary, President and Chief Executive Officer of Golden Corral.
“Coming Home” is the newest single on The Sweet Tea Project’s new album Alder Lane Farm. The full album is available here. More information can be found at TheSweetTeaProject.com. Follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About DAV (Disabled Veteran Americans):
DAV empowers veterans to lead high-quality lives with respect and dignity. It is dedicated to a single purpose: fulfilling our promises to the men and women who served. DAV does this by ensuring that veterans and their families can access the full range of benefits available to them; fighting for the interests of America’s injured heroes on Capitol Hill; providing employment resources to veterans and their families; and educating the public about the great sacrifices and needs of veterans transitioning back to civilian life. DAV, a nonprofit organization with nearly 1.3 million members, was founded in 1920 and chartered by the U. S. Congress in 1932. Learn more at www.dav.org.
About Golden Corral Corporation:
Founded in 1973, privately held Golden Corral Corp. is headquartered in Raleigh, N.C. Lance Trenary serves as its president and chief executive officer. Golden Corral has 485 restaurants in 42 states as of January 1, 2017. The company’s vision is to be the leader in the family restaurant segment by making pleasurable dining affordable for every guest, at every restaurant, every day. Golden Corral restaurants nationwide have long been strong supporters of the U.S. Military and Disabled American Veterans (DAV). Golden Corral helped raise more than $1.4 million dollars for DAV in 2016 as part of its annual “Military Appreciation” initiative. Golden Corral is the founding sponsor of Camp Corral, a free “week of a lifetime” summer camp for children of wounded, injured, ill or fallen military families (www.campcorral.org ). For more information on Golden Corral, visit www.goldencorral.com.
About Sweet Tea Project:
Named after the drink that is a cultural trademark of the band’s home region, The Sweet Tea Project began serendipitously when Ed Roland was on a break from touring. The veteran singer/songwriter and front man of the multi-platinum rock band Collective Soul, began reconnecting with the vibrant club and coffeehouse scene in Atlanta. On random nights, he would invite some of these popular local musicians to his house to jam on tunes they had written that reached outside the stylistic jurisdiction of Collective Soul, including “Going to Birmingham,” one of the highlights from their debut album Devils ‘n Darlins that Roland wrote on the ukulele.
Roland enjoyed the loose homespun atmosphere, especially the unexpected energy of co-writing new songs with some of these musician friends. Among the most frequent visitors as the casual Sweet Tea Project jams took shape were bassist Brian Bisky and Christopher Alan Yates, who also plays banjo and trumpet. The Sweet Tea Project’s lineup also includes guitarist Jesse Tripplet and drummer Mike Rizzi.
