San Francisco resident Eugene Lee and several of his friends have made an annual tradition out of holding a summer get-together to benefit the San Francisco Food Bank.

Eugene and his friends love sharing meals together and they wanted to support an organization that helps those in need do the same. They also chose the Food Bank because it directly supports the local community.

 

To start off, duties were divided among the group - some helped prep food, some secured the picnic site, and others helped with cleanup.

They spread the word through Yelp.com, using the site to ask local businesses for help. Over the years, they've expanded their home-grown publicity with blog postings and a dedicated Facebook page.

The response from the business community went beyond expectations - many businesses even offered to donate their services to be auctioned.

Even the staff at Yelp.com helped out: the head designer and marketing director donated on behalf of the website a custom designed t-shirt for the person who purchased the most raffle tickets.

Eugene's events have had tremendous turnout. "When you say good food, good company and all for a good cause, people are more than happy to help with anything and everything," he says.