AHG Cares

Committed to Community

Ascend Hospitality Group (AHG) invests wholly in both our team members and our guests to take service to the next level, and ultimately commits to elevating the communities we serve.

Based on our core values of YOU MATTER, TEAM MATTERS, SERVICE MATTERS,
AHG has launched AHG Cares, our philanthropic arm of the company. Through AHG Cares, we are able to hone our philanthropic efforts through various programs and collaborations with a positive community impact.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to see what we are up to!

The Bellevue NYE Night Market

The second annual Bellevue New Year’s Eve Night Market returned to ring in 2024 with a vibrant makers market of over 30 craft, food, and beverage vendors on Sunday, December 31 from 3-9pm!

Presented by AHG Cares with support from Amazon Bellevue, the Bellevue NYE Night Market spotlighted local artists and culture with an expanded footprint and offering from its inaugural year in 2022, bringing in more than 6,000 attendees in the second year. Working closely with the City of Bellevue, AHG Cares also partnered with event producer NW Marketplaces to showcase the diverse array of art, crafts, and goods.

The night market was held just off Main Street at 10220 NE 1st Pl and was FREE to the public, with highlights of the festive evening including 30+ local craft vendors, food trucks, live music, a seasonal photo opp, a surprise appearance from Blitz the Seahawk, free rides around town by Visit Bellevue’s BellHop, complimentary cocoa, cookies, and dog treats from Happy Camper Catering, PLUS a beer and wine garden will feature the wines of Browne Family Cellars, presented by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue.

AHG Has Your Back

AHG Has Your Back is an annual back-to-school backpack program created by Ascend Hospitality Group. The program provides underserved children with a one-of-a-kind, custom-designed backpack experience for the back-to-school season. Each year, AHG collaborates with a celebrity partner to create an unforgettable program for students whom need it the most.

For the inaugural year of AHG Has Your Back, AHG partnered with former Seahawk and Super Bowl champion Cliff Avril and the Cliff Avril Family Foundation. Through the program, 250 students received a custom backpack designed by Avril himself, including essential school supplies provided by AHG and program sponsor Amazon, as well as USDA-approved grocery shopping lists and nutritional guides, healthy recipes, and food education activity sheets, plus a $25 gift card to shop at any Amazon Fresh grocery store location. Watch the “making of” the 2021 AHG Has Your Back backpack and learn more here.

For 2022, AHG and Amazon partnered with international popstar Ciara and her Why Not You Foundation to double the numbers, benefitting 500 students in need with Dare to Roam backpacks and a block party at the Amazon Fresh store in Bellevue, Washington, all to ring in the new school year In addition to hosting the backpack experience for Ciara’s Why Not You Academy students, AHG Has Your Back also partnered with six other Seattle-area nonprofits focused on providing historically marginalized youth with opportunity, with the intent to send these students back to school with confidence.

In 2023, AHG and Amazon recruited a team of “Seattle Sports Legends” — from Bobby Wagner of the Seahawks to Chance Fry from the Sounders and mascot Doppler of the Seattle Storm — to host a parking lot party once again at the Amazon Fresh store, benefiting six Seattle-area nonprofits and getting packs on the backs of 700 students for the school year.

31 Lives

Ascend Hospitality Group is on a mission to elevate the lives of the community, guests and employees we serve. In the spirit of our mission, we launched an initiative to change 31 Lives annually through a program designed to fund scholarships and internships for aspiring culinarians, as well as contribute pro-bono professional expertise and tools to elevate culinary education in the Puget Sound area. The program launched May 31, 2018 at 5:31 pm to broadcast the opening of our namesake restaurant, Ascend Prime Steak & Sushi, positioned on the 31st floor of the Lincoln South Tower.

The 31 Lives program used the proceeds from the first 31 reservations of Ascend Prime Steak & Sushi to kick-off funding for the program. Ascend Hospitality Group believes this initiative will help position the broader education community to create incredible opportunities for those who are passionate about culinary. While this campaign is currently on hold through the COVID-19 pandemic, AHG hopes to reestablish in the near future.

AHG Cares Community Cocktail

In the AHG Cares Community Cocktail program, AHG restaurants align with local nonprofit beneficiaries and create a specific cocktail to feature on the menu in which $1 from each sold is donated to that nonprofit.  

Dating back to 2020 with Ascend Prime Steak & Sushi, the Community Cocktail program is now a staple at Stanford’s, Stanford’s Steak, AQUA TERRA Steak + Sushi, with each store location giving back to a hyper-local, education-based nonprofit in their community.

Current beneficiaries include:

Alliance 4 Education (Stanford’s, Northgate)

Clackamas County Children’s Commission (Stanford’s, Clackamas)

With Love Oregon (Stanford’s, Tanasbourne)

South Puget Sound Boys & Girls Club (Stanford’s Steak, Tacoma)

Salt Lake Education Foundation (Aqua Terra Steak + Sushi, Salt Lake City)

AHG x Big Table

At Ascend Hospitality Group, feeding guests in our restaurants goes beyond nourishment — we strive to nourish and feed the community on a larger scale. Prior to the onset of COVID-19, AHG was a restaurant partner of Big Table, a nonprofit that cares for the restaurant and hospitality industry workers by building community and caring for those in crisis or transition, regularly donating to the organization that gives back to our own industry. When restaurants closed for service in the height of the pandemic, Ascend Prime Steak & Sushi donated all tips from to-go meals to Big Table, contributing over $20,000 to the cause.

AHG continues its partnership with Big Table, donating restaurant experiences for auctions to featuring cocktails on the menus in which proceeds go directly to the organization. Learn more about Big Table, its restaurant partners and the lives they are impacting in this moving video here.

Rainier Athletes’ PlayItForward: In the Sky

PlayItForward: In the Sky is Rainier Athletes’ inaugural celebration of community “PlayMakers,” local leaders who have paved the way to increase opportunity and connection for marginalized youth and their families.

A Bellevue-based nonprofit, Rainier Athletes believes that opportunity requires the right support in your corner. The organization has spent the last 10 years building a mentorship movement that expands access to opportunity, with long-term, one-on-one supportive relationships for youth that have been historically left out and underestimated.

Their mission is made possible by advocates like Ascend Hospitality Group and CEO/President Elaina M. Morris, which is why AHG has been selected as the 2022 Corporate PlayMaker!

The Famous Way

Throughout AHG’s owned and operated franchise of Famous Dave’s BBQ, the company supports various organizations and groups throughout Washington and Utah where the stores are located.

FOR THE KIDS: Each year, Famous Dave’s Utah locations donate $1 from every children’s meal sold to Utah’s For the Kids program, an organization that fights childhood hunger. In the last 12 months, these two locations have donated $16,000 to the program.

COVID RELIEF 2020-21: Famous Dave’s developed a meal matching program that donated over 1,000 meals to first responders and hospitals in Washington and Oregon.

BOGO HOLIDAY TURKEYS: Through a Buy One, Get One promotion during the holiday season, Famous Dave’s donates one turkey to various food banks throughout Washington and Utah for every turkey or turkey family meal ordered.

MONTHLY DONATIONS: Each Famous Dave’s store donates 100 meals each month to various local organizations.