Sizzle Dining’s participating restaurants raise $105,655 for Blessings in a Backpack
It was a record-setting year across the board for an annual event that brings food and fundraising together.
Sizzle Dining, which ran throughout the entire month of September at more than 100 Southwest Florida restaurants, raised $105,655 for Blessings in a Backpack.
In its 10th year and most expansive format to date, the month-long event featured 140 restaurants across Lee and Collier counties, from Cape Coral to Marco Island, where participating establishments offered exclusive lunches and dinners at discounted prices, all while giving back to the local community.
Founder of Sizzle Dining, Guy Clarke, said he’s extremely pleased with the turnout, as $105,655 dollars going to Blessings in a Backpack of Southwest Florida means more than 100,000 meals were sold as part of the initiative.
“We beat our goal of one-hundred-thousand meals sold this year,” he said. “Restaurants filled tables in the slowest month. Diners got real 25- to 30-percent discounts. That’s a real win.
“We’re proud of the restaurants. They made it happen. One dollar per meal from them got us to $105,655 for Blessings in a Backpack. That’s more weekend food for elementary kids in Lee and Collier Counties. The charity is why we do it.”
In 2024, Sizzle Dining raised $62,529. The momentum surged in 2025, when 127 restaurants across Collier and Lee counties served a record 87,483 meals during the event’s first four-week run. Now, the event has surpassed the 100,000 mark.
“People told me selling 100,000 meals was a crazy goal,” Clarke said. “But Southwest Florida showed up and proved otherwise. Together, diners and restaurants sold more than 105,000 meals, creating a record $105,655 donation that will help feed local children who might otherwise go hungry on weekends. For an event that started with just 26 restaurants in Naples, this is an incredible testament to the generosity of our community.”
Clarke estimates the event’s overall economic impact at roughly $20 million since the event started, supporting not only restaurants but also local farmers, linen and uniform services, and even local boutiques.
Since it began as Naples Restaurant Week in 2016, Sizzle Dining has sold more than 530,000 meals. Blessings in a Backpack has received more than $340,000 from the event since becoming its charity of choice in 2021.
During the 2025-2026 school year, Blessings in a Backpack’s local chapter served 31 programs, fed approximately 8,000 children every Friday, and distributed 256,000 weekend food bags. Sizzle’s consistent support has become a vital part of that greater effort.
“A gift like this changes what Friday looks like for thousands of kids in our community. For a lot of these children, the food bag they take home on Friday is what carries them through the weekend until they’re back at school on Monday,” said Tony Ceresoli Sr., managing director of Blessings in a Backpack. “Every diner who sat down for a Sizzle meal and every restaurant that signed on helped make sure more local kids have food at home this school year. We can’t thank Guy and the Sizzle Dining community enough.”
For the first time ever this year, Sizzle Dining allowed the restaurants to pick their own prices — with a strict caveat.
Sizzle Dining menus must have been 25 to 30% off of the regular-priced menu.
Clarke said he felt this allowed Sizzle to be even more successful.
“Chefs set their own prices and built menus that fit their concepts and costs… it was good for the consumer, too,” he said. “More freedom meant better menus and more restaurants saying ‘yes.’ That drove turnout. Next year will be better as the restaurants learn how to fine-tune their menus.”
In Cape Coral, participating restaurants this year included: Bimini Basin Seafood & Cocktails, Bubba’s Roadhouse & Saloon, El Jardin, Fathoms, Gather, Next Door, Oak & Stone, Pinchers, Point 57, and Sage on 47th.
Overall, 46 new restaurants participated this year, with a record-breaking 26 new participants coming from Lee County.
“Cape Coral showed up nicely this year,” Clarke said. “(Participating Cape restaurants) ran Sizzle menus all month. There was strong Lee County growth overall this year.”
Clarke said Sizzle will keep growing the restaurant list, but is capping it at 150 for the next three years.
“We’re going to push breakfast and lunch harder,” he said. “We’ll keep getting the word out to our community. There are half- a-million Southwest Florida locals that didn’t participate this year, so we have a lot of room to grow.”
Sizzle Dining was founded in Naples in 2016 by Clarke, who also is the creator of BaconFest Naples along with his wife Erin Clarke, a culinary school-trained chef and restaurant management consultant. The promotional event originally launched with 26 restaurants as dinner-only. Today, Sizzle Dining has grown into a month-long event that draws thousands of diners.
For more information on Sizzle Dining, visit SizzleDining.org. For more information on Blessings in a Backpack, visit swfl.blessingsinabackpack.org.
To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com