Denny’s has revealed an all-new, completely customized Mobile Relief Diner, a 53-foot traveling kitchen that will visit areas impacted by natural disasters to serve free, freshly-cooked pancake breakfasts during a time of critical need. Denny’s will immediately deliver upon the Mobile Relief Diner’s mission with direct deployment to assist those affected by Hurricane Florence, helping feed local residents, first responders, volunteers and others.
The Mobile Relief Diner will head to the Carolinas this week following a recent test run in Northern California, where Denny’s rolled-out the mobile kitchen to assist several communities affected by the record-breaking wildfires.
“At Denny’s, our brand purpose is rooted in the fact that we love to feed people—and have ever since our company was founded in 1953,” says John Dillon, chief marketing officer for Denny’s. “While we deliver on that brand purpose every day inside of our restaurants, the Mobile Relief Diner allows us do what we do best by going out into local communities to offer a hot and comforting meal during a time when they could really use it the most. And knowing the devastation that Hurricane Florence has created and will continue to create in the Southeast, it is very important for us to deploy the Mobile Relief Diner straight into those communities to help the displaced as they work to get back on their feet.”
Built from the ground up, the Mobile Relief Diner is a fully-functional diner on wheels that was specifically designed by Denny’s to travel to virtually anywhere in the U.S. during emergency situations to serve free, hot pancakes, along with bacon, coffee and drinks. With each deployment, the Mobile Relief Diner will work closely with local officials, disaster relief organizations, and local franchisees and store operators to identify the areas most in need.
Denny’s rolled out a previous version of the Mobile Relief Diner in 2017, which served as a temporary and immediate solution to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in Houston and South Florida, respectively.
“The initial concept of the Mobile Relief Diner was created to serve as a quick, but temporary solution that we could get on the road in a timely manner,” adds Dillon. “Over the course of two weeks, we were able to serve over 14,000 meals and seeing the impact that we had in those communities made us realize that the Mobile Relief Diner is the perfect embodiment of our brand. After retiring our truck last fall, we immediately began planning on how to make a better—and permanent—version of the Mobile Relief Diner to help as many people as we can.”
The Mobile Relief Diner will set up operations starting in North Carolina this week where it will begin serving free pancake breakfasts. For real-time updates on the current location of the Denny’s Mobile Relief Diner, follow on Twitter at @DennysMRD.
