• 1

    The Runners Prepare

    The Gonzmart Family Foundation and the Columbia Restaurant Group are involved in a series of charitable events throughout the year. Check out these upcoming events. We’d love for you to join us.
  • 2

    It's Kids' Stuff

    Children are at the heart of Richard’s Run for Life, and our events are for the whole family. Special activities are planned for the very young and the young at heart. Your kids will enjoy meeting the people who make up their community.

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    Working Up An Appetite

    Racing under the Richard’s Run for Life flag always means the best of sustenance for body and soul. Local restaurants donate refreshments and delicacies so that 100% of money raised can go to the cause.


After Very Successful ‘Runs,’
Gonzmart Group Pauses Two Charity Events


TAMPA, Fla. (March 22, 2024) – The 1905 Family Of Restaurants announced today that it will shift from in-person public events to more private charitable giving, a move intended to put less stress on staff members who provide logistics and food service during the annual Richard’s Run For Life and Richard’s Father’s Day Walk and Jog.

The pause in both events also means fewer requests by the company for charitable contributions from vendors and local supporters, said 4th Generation Caretaker and events originator Richard Gonzmart.

Charitable giving by the company, by Gonzmart personally and by the Gonzmart Family Foundation will continue to benefit cancer research entities such as Moffitt Cancer Center, the University of Florida Small Animal Hospital, as well as educational institutions.

Also continuing is the company’s annual Community Harvest program, where 5 percent of every check each September at all of the company’s restaurants is donated to a charity of each customer’s choosing. During its 26 years, the Harvest has provided more than $4 million to non-profit organizations throughout Florida.

Many other charitable efforts also will continue, including the USF Latino Scholarship Program, USF Athletics and other corporate and private donations that will total millions of dollars during the next 10 years.

Richard’s Run For Life celebrated 22 years in November. Richard’s Father’s Day Walk and Jog marked its 10th anniversary in June 2023. Each drew hundreds of participants to Ybor City and and the Tampa Riverwalk.

Richard’s Run For Life featured food and beverages from the 1905 Family Of Restaurant brands: Columbia Restaurant, Ulele, Goody Goody Burgers, Casa Santo Stefano and Cha Cha Coconuts. However in this time of shortage of staff, it places pressure on the team.

“It’s been a great run,” Gonzmart said. “When we began these events, I was hopeful. Still, I never dreamed we could raise this kind of money for the charities, while making a difference in the effort to find a cancer cure and new treatments.”

“I think it’s time,” he said. “These events take a tremendous toll on our staff. I also feel badly going back to the same generous sponsors year after year. Asking for donations takes a great deal of effort.”

Richard thanked the thousands of runners and walkers, as well as the hundreds of volunteers and sponsors who had supported the events over the years. He paid all the expenses for the events, so 100 percent of the revenue went to charity.

“I reserve the right to re-start one or both of these events in some form when the world becomes a bit nicer,” Richard said. “In fact, you still may find me on Father’s Day this year walking the Tampa Riverwalk near Ulele. My body’s conditioned to do that each year. Care to join me at 8 a.m. for a more informal stroll? We can grab some Cuban toast and café con leche afterward.”

More Information: Jeff Houck at JeffH@CRG1905.com


Each year the Tampa Bay community gets together to run through the streets of Tampa’s historic Ybor City

W hen you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.

- Patanjali

This quote was a great motivator for me and still is. Using my experience as a runner and my desire to find a cure for cancer I created “Richard’s Run for Life” under the Gonzmart Family Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds to find a cure for cancer. Creating Richard’s Run was a way to fulfill this goal of finding a cure.

- Richard Gonzmart

Father’s Day Event Raises $100,000-Plus, Bringing 10-Year Moffitt Total to $1 Million

Our annual Father’s Day event at Ulele raised a minimum of $100,000 for Moffitt Cancer Center, bringing the 10-year total to more than $1 million. (Next year’s event is June 16. Hope you’ll join us.)


More than 500 people registered for the family-friendly walk or jog on the Tampa Riverwalk leaving from and returning to Ulele.

Although the forecast looked dismal all night, the skies brightened with the sunrise and the night’s thunder, lightning and heavy rain seemed played out.

Event founder Richard Gonzmart thanked the sponsors, volunteers, community partners, participants and the many 1905 Family of Restaurants team members at the event. “We’re here because we’re raising money and awareness for Moffitt Cancer Center, which opened in 1986 and fast became one of the leading cancer facilities in the country,” Richard said.

He pointed out that 1 in 6 men will get prostate cancer, 1 in 3 Blacks and Hispanics. But, he said, the good news is that early detection is key because screening equals life. Richard said Moffitt Cancer Center is in Tampa because of the vision of one man – Lee Moffitt.

While a member of the Florida House of Representatives, Lee helped secure the initial $70 million for construction. At the time Lee was able to get the funding passed, The Tampa Tribune praised his “steel persistence and cotton diplomacy.”

The facility was named for Moffitt over his objections.

As Lee Moffitt often says, “One person can make a difference.”

That’s why we put that quotation on the run shirts.

Lee was at another Moffitt function in North Carolina, but his daughter Jenny represented the family to thank the Gonzmarts for staging the event in 2023and for the last 10 years.

And Moffitt CEO Dr. Patrick Hwu also spoke and later said “You saved lives today.”

Now that’s a good day.


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