The cards on the walls at Texas Steakhouse are not Christmas cards. Nevertheless, they are cards of seasons greeting for the children of domestic violence victims at Hannah's Place.

Hand and Jones in front of some of the cards.

Hannah's Place is the charity the restaurant on Julian R. Allsbrook Highway chose to help this year and the cards represent those who have donated a dollar or more to help buy the children toys and clothes for Christmas.

It is just not the patrons of Texas Steakhouse who are pitching in, said Melissa Hand, general manager of the restaurant. Children from Belmont Elementary School, where Hand volunteers in a reading program, are also saving their pennies.

“It was a last minute idea,” Hand, who collaborated with restaurant Kitchen Manager Stacy Jones, said.

The idea was to try to raise $100 a day with an initial goal of $700. With generous giving and the help of the children at Belmont, the restaurant is now eyeing $1,000.

Cards from the children at Belmont.

“When I was reading at the class at Belmont, I explained to them, 'There are people who don't have the nice things you do.' They started pulling out their snack money,” Hand said.

Now the children are depositing their pennies in a water cooler jug and their contributions are expected to help the restaurant meet its $1,000 goal.

“It was a collaborative effort,” Jones said. “We sat down and tried to figure a way to give back.”

They decided on Hannah's Place, a 10-bed shelter for domestic violence and sex abuse victims, which receives some 20 to 30 calls a day. It belongs to a network of shelters in Virginia and North Carolina to provide anonymity between the victims and their abusers.

The restaurant will be accepting donations through Thursday and employees will go shopping Friday. There will be a party at the restaurant on Saturday.

Texas also has a box where customers can donate clothing, non-perishable food items and toiletries.

Employees are behind the drive. “The servers and staff are onboard and are pushing them at every table,” she said.

The company is also behind the drive, Hand said. “I'm fortunate to work with a company that puts importance on the community. If I have a great idea, they back me up on it. Boddie-Noell is a very family oriented company.”