The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Hooley House donates gift cards to graduates
Hooley House donated gifts cards to every graduating senior at six high schools, including Mentor, Lake Catholic
Pub gives $10 cards to every senior at six Northeast Ohio high schools — including Mentor and Lake Catholic.
Hooley House has been a proponent of community involvement ever since it opened its doors at the Mentor location in 2009.
That involvement hasn’t been stopped — or even slowed down — by the novel coronavirus.
In an act of massive generosity, Hooley House — which has expanded its locations to Brooklyn, Westlake and Montrose — has given $10 gift certificates to every graduating senior at six Northeast Ohio schools. Gift certificates are being delivered to Mentor, Lake Catholic, Westlake, Brooklyn, Akron Copley and Richfield Revere high schools for their graduating seniors.
Each of the gift certificates was specially printed with the given school’s logo on them. They were delivered to the schools to distribute in their own way.
Mentor has a graduating class of 614, so that’s an investment of $6,140 alone. Add in Lake Catholic’s graduating class of 142 is another $1,420 even before Westlake (approximately 300 graduating seniors), Copley (approximately 250) and Revere (approximately 225), and Brooklyn (approximately 120).
But it’s safe to say coowners John and Richie Reece, along with another co-owner Ward Lawson — have spent about $15,000 to honor the graduating seniors at those six schools.
When contacted about the gift cards, Richie Reece was shy about word getting out in regard to the donation.
“When we saw the schools closing, we started thinking about the seniors and all the things they’d be missing — games, graduation, prom and all those things,” Reece said. “We wanted to do something, even if it’s small, to recognize them. I didn’t want them to feel overlooked.”
Hooley House has long been involved with community sports. They host the Varsity Chalk Talk Show, hosted by Bill Tilton, at their locations.
Additionally, Hooley House is the presenting sponsor for The News-Herald Senior Bowl, a football all-star game showcasing the N-H area’s top senior football players, as well as The News-Herald Senior Classic, an all-star game for area boys and girls basketball players.
The gift cards for seniors in Mentor, Lake Catholic, Westlake, Brooklyn, Revere and Copley go well beyond athletics. They’re for all of those schools’ seniors.
“We’ve always had a good relationship with Hooley House,” said Lake Catholic athletic director Sam Colacarro.
“For them to do something like this, you’re talking about a couple thousand kids. That’s a remarkable investment. They didn’t have to do anything, but they did, and it’s amazing.”
Like most restaurant and/or bar establishments, Hooley House has been limited in what they can offer in regard to service.
Business is down, but not their generosity.
“Our mission statement has always been, ‘Kindness Doing Business,’” Reece said. “That’s where it all stems from — being kind first.
“Yes, it’s a pretty substantial investment, but what the heck? This is about more than us. We want to help people. It’s not about dollars and cents.”
Hooley House opened in Mentor in 2009. Brooklyn’s site opened next in 2012, followed by Westlake (2014) and Montrose (2015).
The graduating senior gift cards are similar to other giveaways from Hooley House, which gives a $50 gift certificate to a nurse each Thursday, as well as a $50 card to a family every Friday.
“We are a family. We’re local guys,” Reece said. “It’s important to us to take care of people — our employees and our community. We decided to do this and let the chips fall where they may.”