By Marin Dupree (Posted on October 31st at 11:32 a.m.)

This school year, the football team is going out late each night to play games for the school. The  Junior School football players often go hours without food—from around lunchtime to late at night. Because of this, Tycoon Flats has stepped in to feed the football team.

Why they’re doing this

Tycoon Flats is helping the football players this year because they enjoy supporting others. “We are happiest making someone else happier. And feeding boys is helping—that’s the main reason we’re doing it,” said Mr. Hartman, the owner of Tycoon Flats. By feeding these players, Tycoon Flats is not only spreading awareness of their business, but also doing something that makes them happy.

By providing meals before games, Tycoon Flats hopes to show the community that they are a restaurant for everyone. “I hope to let everyone know Tycoon Flats is a community citizen—kind of helping out with, you know, a need,” said Mr. Hartman. He hopes to support the community by feeding these student-athletes and others who may need food.

Play Ball

Tycoon Flats also hopes to build loyalty and gain future customers by feeding the football team this year. “The goal is to hopefully, when they say, ‘Hey kids, where do you all want to go eat?’—you know, Tycoon Flats is the answer.” Mr. Hartman explained that by supporting them at an early age, he hopes Tycoon Flats will become a favorite place to eat in the future.

Since they are a restaurant, Tycoon Flats is a natural fit for this role. As Mr. Hartman explains, they are already used to feeding people, so helping more is part of their mission. “Because we have the restaurant, we’re always feeding people, so anytime anyone says, ‘What are we going to do for food?’ we begin to say, well, that could be us, and how can we help?”

Ten, Hut!

With lunch around noon and football games around sundown, the players have a huge gap between meals. Tycoon Flats feeds these students to help shorten that gap. “When they load them on the bus at 2:45, they’re not gonna be home until 8 o’clock, and so that’s too big of a window.” Tycoon Flats truly cares about making sure these players are fed and fueled.

A long break between meals means the players also need something they will enjoy and that will keep them energized. “I thought, you know, the boys would probably enjoy burgers, fries or chips, and water.” With this food, the players are able to enjoy their game more with a classic, filling meal to start them off.

Tycoon Flats not only hopes to help the players, but also make the parents’ evenings a little more enjoyable by keeping their kids happy after games. “So I’m sure that the parents are enjoying picking up, I guess, a partially fed 13-year-old versus, you know, someone who hasn’t eaten since 12 o’clock that day.” Since Mr. Hartman is also a parent, he understands that hungry kids can be grumpy, so he’s also helping make parents’ nights easier.