Three Chopt restaurant once again raises money for us

Three Chopt Sandwich Shoppe, a popular lunch spot in Hendersonville, served a lot of spaghetti Thursday, Dec. 19, to support Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Co-owner Matthew Rogers contributed everything – food, labor, overhead – so that BBBS and two other organizations he supports would receive all the proceeds. And he did it to celebrate his birthday!

“There are many ways one can celebrate a birthday,” Rogers wrote on his Facebook page. “I want to help three local organizations that mean a lot to me.”

The sold-out evening was one of many Three Chopt has held for BBBS and other organizations over the years. It was “a big success,” said Joey Popp, a local resident and former BBBS of Western North Carolina board member.

Popp is Big Brother to Andre, who works at the restaurant part-time. Andre, Mary and Abby, who are also local Littles, were servers for the night. Not only did they learn life-enhancing lessons about serving the public, they also made great tips!

“People loved it,” Popp said of being waited on by smiling Littles.

“With us being a mentoring program, so much of what we do is not seen on the public side,” Popp said. “It’s seldom that the public sees us doing our one-on-one mentoring unless we go to a ballgame” or other group activity in the community.

But interacting with Littles as servers brought BBBS’ work right to diners’ tables, Popp said. “They got to talk to our kids and get energized by them.”

Popp, who washed dishes during the event (“I can’t tell you how busy I was,” he said), was thrilled by the response of the community, and by a local restaurant that has repeatedly stepped up to help BBBS.

“What a gem we have in Henderson County for a restaurant owner to throw a dinner party for three of his favorite charities,” Popp said. “And we at BBBS are honored to be part of his mission.”