The Nevada chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation held its annual Great Strides fundraising walkathon in Las Vegas on April 9th at the campus of UNLV. Senior Manager Pete Bowman answered the call for support and sent in the following story:

It was a gorgeous spring morning in Arizona and at the crack of dawn TASC Force Team Members from all four Phoenix area BJ's started to arrive at the Tempe Town Lake Park.  The anticipation of the walk, the adrenaline of being outdoors with the fresh air and the excitement of participating in this great walk had all of our Team Members and their families buzzing!  The Muscular Dystrophy Association organized a beautiful walk, complete with breakfast and live music before the 5K trek began.  It was the first time that all of our restaurants in Arizona participated in an

The following eloquent words are from Senior Manager Scott Sweeney: “The Strides Against Breast Cancer” turnout was, simply put, amazing.

Being arrested is no laughing matter, but when it’s done for a good cause, being locked up isn’t all that bad. Just ask John Welsh and his El Paso team who hosted more than 200 temporary jailbirds as they awaited their freedom.

Christina-Taylor Green wanted to grow up and go into politics. Sadly, she became the youngest of the six victims shot and killed outside of a Tucson, Arizona, grocery store. She was in the crowd that had gone to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' political event so that she could witness and learn more about politics.

When it comes to team building, General Manager Mike Eller takes it quite literally. His Pearland TASC Force team is helping to build the house shown below. Six days prior to the photo, there was only a cement slab in place.  At this point, Mike reports that “the house is prepped for brick, the electrical is wired but no plugs yet, the plumbing is in. The roof looks great (funded by our BJ’s Foundation) and we are trying to schedule a TASC Force team for the painting in three weeks. We will be helping on the insulating and the dry wall next week.”

Executive Kitchen Manager Bobby Brown and his Daytona TASC Force team came to the aid of the local battered women’s shelter. Because of the volume of TASC Force stories, this event occurred during the holiday season last year, but the story is timeless and the kindness of our team remains continues to be so relevant. Here’s his story:

With a number of holiday TASC Force events reported over the past few weeks, I’m pleased to finally share with you this outstanding example of community support as reported by SM Tim Sullivan of BJ’s in Addison. “The Christmas at Fair Park event was an astounding success. It was by far the largest event that the SM Wright Foundation, one that provides relief and hope to families in need in the South Dallas area, has organized.

When children were in need, we responded with food and clothing and a kind word.

And when fundraisers were held to fight cancer, leukemia, multiple sclerosis and cystic fibrosis, we were there with our teams to walk, run or ride bikes to help raise money.

When children were undergoing treatment in local hospitals, we helped in nearby homes where their parents anxiously awaited the results of treatments and surgeries.