Fro-Yo Flavored Fundraising

Franchisees are committed to supporting community causes

to the Westerville community than just frozen yogurt.

Their local Orange Leaf franchise, 750 N. State St., opened in June. The frozen yogurt company offers a self-serve operation – customers can get their fro-yo straight from the dispenser and choose their own toppings from the topping bar. The store offers 16 yogurt flavors per day, and the number of toppings tops 50.

But mother-and-son team Maureen and Brandon Ross – who co-own the franchise with partner Mike Jones – decided to go a step further when it comes to serving the community. Westerville is a closely-knit community, and they wanted their business to be about more than just making money.

Just a month after opening, they established Fund-Day Mondays. Every

Monday, the store offers 20 percent of its proceeds to a worthy local cause.

The concept proved very popular, very quickly among community members – to the point that, while the name remains intact, the Rosses no longer limit the effort to one day a week.

“We actually had to go to Tuesday and Wednesday too,” Maureen says. Organizations apply directly to the store’s franchise owners for consideration, and since July, Fund-Day Monday has helped raise money for PTAs, sports teams, youth groups, sororities and the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. It has also helped purchase a wheelchair ramp for a little girl with cystic fibrosis and raised money for a cause in Cambodia, among a huge assortment of other causes.

“We were booked all the way into February by August,” Brandon says.

In October, the store partnered with Komen Columbus to offer 20 percent of all Sunday proceeds to the organization. The endeavor raised about $2,800 to aid local efforts to increase awareness of breast cancer. The store will repeat the promotion in May.