What goes best with food? If you’re talking The Mad Italian, the answer is perhaps community. The restaurant has been a part of the Chamblee community for more than 50 years serving up more than just food. During the school year, you may find The Mad Italian holding a spirit night for a school in the area. And while The Mad Italian is known for helping create good food and fun for spirit nights, they’re also heavily involved with the Georgia Alliance for Breast Cancer and the Georgia 2-Day Walk.
Shannon Mothershed is a Chamblee native and has worked at The Mad Italian along with the owner, Tom Brown, since she was a teenager. Now Shannon handles marketing for the restaurant along with other duties. Shannon explains how their involvement with the Georgia Alliance for Breast Cancer and the Georgia 2-Day Walk came about.
It all started with an email from a student who asked for the restaurant’s support as she planned to walk with her mother during the 2-Day walk in 2012. The girl named Charlie sent an email asking if the owner of The Mad Italian would be willing to do something similar to a spirit night for her walk to raise money and bring about awareness for breast cancer. According to Shannon, they decided to take things a step further.
“Tom and I decided to surprise her and do a six-week long fundraiser at the restaurant,” Shannon says. “We ordered T-shirts, stickers, and magnets. And that first year we presented her with a check for $4,200. It was a big surprise.”
Since that first year, it’s become an annual event for The Mad Italian, and each year the fundraiser has grown and the amount they’ve raised has increased, with recent years hitting $20,000. Shannon says in addition to raising funds, they also sponsor a couple of breast stops during the walk.
“It’s a great organization,” Shannon says, of the Georgia Alliance for Breast Cancer. “It’s a small office and they don’t do a lot of advertising. We’ve gone to grantee meetings and seeing that the money stays in Georgia, it’s really nice.”
This year the Georgia 2-Day Walk was planned for the end of September. According to the website, the Georgia Alliance for Breast Cancer is a nonprofit that strives to support Georgia’s breast cancer community by raising funds to support breast health and breast cancer programs throughout the state. The Georgia 2-Day Walk is their main fundraising event.
As The Mad Italian continues to raise funds for the Georgia Alliance for Breast Cancer and its 2-Day Walk, school spirit nights, and other community events, the restaurant is also serving up its famous Cheesesteaks, “the best cheesesteaks south of Philly” and other delicious pastas, salads, and sandwiches.
“We take pride in that we’re more than just a restaurant,” Shannon says. “And it’s just a good feeling to be able to give back.”
For more information about The Mad Italian, visit maditalian.com.
We recognize October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For more information about the Georgia Alliance for Breast Cancer and the 2-Day Walk, visit gaabc.org.
We take pride in that we’re more than just a restaurant.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.