This fall marked the tenth season of Dining United, an initiative that brings Itasca-area restaurants together to support the Itasca County area through United Way of 1000 Lakes. 

Participating local restaurants donate a portion of proceeds during the months of October and November to United Way’s impact fund, which supports the organization’s impact work, guided by a recently updated impact strategy. Funds raised help support nonprofit partner programs working to improve lives, strengthen the community and advance equity.

In 2022, fourteen establishments joined the efforts, some of them for the first time. Broad participation helped bring Dining United to its most successful year yet, with the group raising more than $9,600 collectively for the community. Proceeds will be combined with hundreds of others to advance family success by simultaneously meeting the needs of both the child and the adults in their lives.

“The last three years, the community has been a huge support, which you really notice as a small business,”  says Brandi Miskovich, who owns The Dutch Room and Mad Dog’s Pizza with her husband Gabe. “We’re glad to be able to give back in a way that reaches so many kids and families.”

2022 Dining United participants included Brewed Awakenings, Country Kitchen, Culver’s, the Dutch Room & Mad Dog’s Pizza, Forest Lake Restaurant & Lounge, Hotel Rapids & HR Bar, NoPo Coffee Co., the Pickled Loon Saloon, Rapids Brewing Co., Sammy’s Pizza, Tavern on the Range, the Timberlake Restaurant, UnWined Up North, and Zorbaz on Pokegama Lake.

United Way has numerous opportunities for restaurants and other local businesses, large and small, to make a difference and pursue philanthropic goals. To learn more about United Way involvement, visit uwlakes.org/get-involved/companies or call 218-999-7570.