Golden Corral Honors Military with Free Meals

If you drive to your local Golden Corral restaurant on November 12 for dinner and see a line of people waiting to be served that so long the queue is out into the parking lot, try not to be upset. In fact, once you discover why there is a long line around the neighborhood Golden Corral, you just might be thrilled and very grateful to the restaurant.

Since 2001, the Golden Corral Restaurant chain, in association with the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), has allocated the Monday on or just after Veterans' Day as "Military Appreciation Monday." From 5 PM local time until closing, all military personnel and veterans of any branch of the service receive a free meal at Golden Corral.

According to Golden Corral's web site, the program has, in its first six years, provided over one and a half free meals to veterans and active duty military members in gratitude for their service. The DAV, who sponsors the program, has also raised nearly $2 million for the organization.

Although the "Military Appreciation Monday" program began in the aftermath of 9/11, the salute was in fact planned beforehand.

The Disabled American Veterans was founded in 1920 as the Disabled American Veterans of the World War by Captain Robert S. Marx working in conjunction with the Ohio Mechanics Institute, a facility that provided rehabilitation training to injured veterans returning from World War I. The organization was renamed the Disabled American Veterans and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932. The current membership is approximately 1.3 million members. Membership is open to any veteran who has an honorable, medical, or general discharge and a service-connected disability rating of 10% or greater. Although not affiliated with the government's Department of Veterans Affairs, the DAV works closely with the VA and lobbies Congress on issues that specifically impact the nation's injured veterans. The DAV also provides numerous vans for transportation to and from Veterans Hospitals for those who have no transportation. Each state has its own state chapter, and over 2,000 local chapters are throughout the nation.

Golden Corral is a national chain of all-you-can-eat buffet and steak houses that was founded by James Maynard and William F. Carl in Fayetteville, North Carolina in January, 1973. There are currently 478 restaurants in 41 states. The chain has been selected as America's #1 family-style buffet for ten consecutive years by Nation's Restaurant News. The restaurant's national headquarters is in Raleigh, North Carolina.