Bar owner gives back to community

When most people think of Kilroy's on Kirkwood and Kilroy's Sports Bar, they may envision cool pitchers of beer, colorful mixed drinks and a festive atmosphere. What many people may not realize, however, is that the woman behind these two Bloomington landmarks is more than just a business owner.\n"This is a family run business of more than 30 years," said Linda Prall, owner of Kilroy's on Kirkwood, Kilroy's Sports Bar and Kilroy's Rib Shack. "But we also try to be good citizens."\nPrall is one of many business owners in the city dedicated to helping out the community in as many ways as possible. Through annual donations to a number of local and national charities and organizations, Kilroy's serves as more than just a place of entertainment.\n"I am very strongly committed to children's charities," Prall said. "But mainly we try to stay local when we make donations."\nStarting in 1975 with donations made to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Prall and her family now maintain 12 to 15 annual donations a year to a number of different organizations, some bigger than others.\n"I can't even name all the charities we have donated to," said Eric Easton, the manager of both Kilroy's and Sports. "We try to support pretty much any group that comes in here."\nWhile Prall has certain organizations that she supports more than others, she is very open to new groups. In the past, these ranged from the Riley's Children's Hospital in Indianapolis to the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington, Prall said. \nA recent addition to the list was Jill's House, a home-like residence center for patients undergoing cancer treatment at the IU Proton Therapy facility, according to their Web site, www.indiana.edu/~jshouse/index.html.\n"It's comforting to know that there are so many people in the community who support us," said Peg Howard, the president of Jill's House Inc. \nThe house, which works primarily with children ages five and under, is only a couple years old, but thanks to donations like Prall's, has expanded into a great resource for cancer patients, Howard said.\n"To know that this community is behind (the children) will give them the extra boost they need," Howard said.\nWhile Prall tries to help out as much as she can, there is a limit to what she can do for a group. Each year Kilroy's will receive and review an average of 200 to 300 donation requests, but narrows the list down to around 15, Prall said.\n"Each year we try to pick one big group, mainly a children's charity, for a big golf outing in the summer," Prall said.\nThe golf outings started 12 years ago and now serve as one of Kilroy's biggest fundraising events. Through prize auctions and sponsorships from other local business and more mainstream corporations, such as big name liquor companies, Prall is able to raise thousands of dollars for the groups.\nThe 2004 golf outing earlier this summer collected $10,000 for the Boys and Girls Club in Bloomington and featured 25 different teams participating. The outing started as just a small golf tournament, but now is a full-day event including lunch, dinner and other activities, Easton said.\n"We made a day out of it," said Jiiri Lobe, an employee of Kilroy's Sports Bar. "There were free hot dogs and lemonade and we brought a bunch of yard toys in for the children."\nThe 2003 golf outing helped Jill's House immensely, with a donation of $7,000. Since then, more and more community groups and businesses are now aware of Jill's House and their cause, Howard said.\n"The outing was a great thing," Howard said. "The only thing we had to do was accept the check." \nLocal charities are not the only groups receiving donations from Kilroy's. Since their opening, Prall continues to help out with different IU organizations, especially those related to the greek system. \nIn the past Kilroy's raised money for a number of different sororities, including the IU Sing program, the Neal Marshall Black Cultural Center, the IU Dance Marathon and several other groups. For the IU Greek system Prall will often donate half the bar cover charges at Sports to the groups for their events.\n"We work pretty heavily with IU groups, especially IU Dance Marathon," Easton said. "We usually raise several thousand dollars for them."\nPrall also encourages her 150 employees, the majority of them being IU students, to help out with the events and get involved in the community as much as possible. Every year Prall and her Kilroy's family host a large Thanksgiving Day turkey roast for local community homeless kitchens.\n"The kids that work for me really enjoy raising the money," Prall said. "We try to encourage them to do more for Bloomington."\nEven with all the fundraising and donations made, many people in Bloomington still see Kilroy's as just another bar, taking money from college kids. In the past years more and more residents perceive Kilroy's as merely a place of business that promotes irresponsible drinking, a bad wrap that Prall says is due to the fact that they sell liquor.\n"We try to provide a safe entertaining atmosphere," Prall said.\nPrall said she knows that the negative perceptions of her business will always be a part of what she does. As a small-business owner she is aware of the challenges and has worked around them. \n"We do so much for the community," Easton said. "And most people don't know it."\nAs for the future, every year Prall tries to raise the bar on how much she can contribute to her groups and she continues to help out newcomers. She currently has no plans to open new venues or expand her business ventures and will eventually hand the reins over to her sons. She will, however, continue to actively support her charities and the community that she loves.\n"The causes that I support are all very close to my heart," Prall said. "And I am strongly committed to them."\n-- Contact staff writer C. Warner Sills at csills@indiana.edu.