Restaurant wants guests to get on bar, chairs … just leave cash

JC's Northside Pub recently introduced a fundraiser in which customers can tack money onto the ceiling of the 127th Street restaurant and bar. The money will be donated in December to Children's House by the Sea, a project of the Believe In Tomorrow National Children's Foundation. Pictured are, from left, JC's employees Jeremy Markel and Taylor Vanderhook, owner Jeff Edwards, manger Lauren Katz and Children's House by the Sea Director Wayne Littleton. (July 3, 2009) JC's Northside Pub customers are tacking their money up on the restaurant's ceiling, all in the name of charity.

Owner Jeff Edwards said he was sitting with friends one evening discussing old college stories when the talk turned to places where patrons could sign dollar bills and hang them on the walls.

But Edwards didn't want them to just hang on the wall at JC's Pub, so he decided to put donations to good use. About a month ago, he made it into a fundraiser for the local Children's House by the Sea.

Edwards said when diners come into the 127th Street restaurant, they look up and ask about the money wallpapering the ceiling. Most have taken part in the fundraising effort, he added.

"It's contagious. One person does it then the next person wants to do it," Edwards said. "We're a new mom-andpop pub and we want to be a community based bar. Doing a fundraiser that involves customers we're able to raise money year-round and donate it at Christmas time. [Children's House] is a great charity and a great foundation."

Wayne Littleton, director of Children's House By The Sea, said it is one of the most unique fundraisers the organization has seen. Another was at Hooper's Crab House in West Ocean City, where owners Pete and Royette Shepherd installed 20 old parking meters in Sneaky Pete's bayfront bar and inside the restaurant boat, Leaky Pete's, for patrons to feed. All the money collected benefited the local organization.

Littleton said he did not know that JC's Pub had the ongoing fundraiser until manager Lauren Katz contacted him last week. He said it was a nice surprise to receive the call from Katz about the campaign.

"It's a pretty neat thought. We're ecstatic," Littleton said. "It's a great idea and it looks like they're having a lot of fun with it, and it will definitely benefit us. It's pretty wild when you walk in there and see the money hanging on the ceiling."

A "Chuck' N' 4 Charity" fundraiser is scheduled for Friday, July 24 ,from 2-6 p.m., to get more people involved in tacking money up for Children's House. A $10 donation will be collected at the door. There will be a free buffet, raffles, music by Mike Givens and happy hour prices on drinks.

Edwards said he plans to take down all the money on Dec. 18, then present Littleton with a check for the total donated.

Children's House by the Sea is a project of the Believe In Tomorrow National Children's Foundation. The local organization offers ill children and their families an opportunity to vacation at the beach, during a time when they might not otherwise be able to afford a getaway on the coast.

Money raised will help pay for activities, such as weekly cookouts and beach parties for the children and their families who stay at one of the organization's three facilities.

There is a four-unit apartment building on 66th Street, a house on the bay at 28th Street, the first respite house in the country to focus on the needs of military pediatrics, and a townhouse in Fenwick Island, Del.

Six families stay at the houses each week throughout the summer.

For more information about the Children's House, contact Littleton at 410-723-2842, or for the JC's Pub fundraiser, call 410-250-2337.