California Tortilla to donate 400 pounds of rice and beans

ROCKVILLE, Md. — California Tortilla will donate more than 400 pounds of rice and beans to So Others Might Eat (SOME) and the DC Central Kitchen after hundreds of customers voted for them in the recent Shorty Awards campaign. The chain finished second in the food category, breaking ground as the only retail chain to make the top five in the contest, awarding the best content providers on social-networking Web site Twitter.

Unfortunately, over half of the 400 ballots cast for the company were disqualified by the Shorty Award organizers as part of a competition-wide audit. Voters needed to have registered Twitter accounts by Dec. 31, 2008, to be eligible to vote. Therefore, despite incredible turnout, not every vote for California Tortilla counted. The company will still donate one pound of food for each vote, even the ones that were thrown out.

The chain will give dry rice and beans to the two charities, fulfilling a promise made at the beginning of the final round to give one pound per vote. In addition, each of the more than 400 voters received a tweet for a free taco.

Since launching their Twitter account last fall, California Tortilla has released exclusive news about promotions, reminders about in-store specials and other "insider info" to hundreds of contacts.