A record-breaking $398,307 was raised for Orange County charities during the 2025 Magical Dining Program, Visit Orlando announced Thursday.

The total collected by the tourism association’s program — presented by Orlando Health — is a 13% increase over last year.

“Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining showcases the best of Orlando’s food scene and culinary talent, offering great deals for locals, driving business to restaurants and raising funds for charities in our community,” Casandra Matej, president and CEO of Visit Orlando, said in a press release. “This milestone 20th year not only delivered a record donation but also welcomed a record number of participating restaurants — including 24 newcomers and 15 MICHELIN Guide honorees — reflecting our community’s growing enthusiasm for Orlando’s ever-evolving dining scene.

“We’re grateful for every diner and restaurant partner whose participation is helping drive meaningful change throughout Central Florida.”

The program has raised nearly $3.3 million since its charity fundraising component was launched in 2009. This year’s primary beneficiary, REED Charitable Foundation, focuses on ending the literacy crisis by ensuring all children have access to reading instruction based on how the brain learns to read — by providing affordable, accessible educator training.

Visit Orlando also awarded $3,000 to additional nonprofits in each of the county’s six commission districts as part of the agency’s continuing mission to expand the program.

The recipients were:

Boys 2 Men Mentoring to build confidence/life skills through mentoring and supporting academic success
Early Learning Coalition of Orange County to connect families to quality early education and programs that strengthen school readiness/literacy
Finding the Lost Sheep to offer tutoring and STEAM activities to boost learning/creativity
Nuevo Sendero to provide counseling and art-based programs that foster emotional health/language development
Samaritan Resource Center to support adult literacy and ESL and create stronger learning environments for children
Therapy Wish to fund speech and language therapies for early communication and literacy skills

Magical Dining’s nonprofit focus: ‘It has allowed us to serve more of the community’

“We were deeply honored and grateful to be chosen as the nonprofit beneficiary for the 20th anniversary of Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining program,” Jennifer Knopf, founder and president of REED, said in the release. “We know that ensuring every child is equipped with the life-saving skills that come with literacy is vital to creating a thriving community.

“Thanks to the generous support of this program, REED Charitable Foundation will be able to do just that by expanding our impact across Orlando and equipping more educators with the essential knowledge and support to confidently teach every child how to read.”

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This year’s Magical Dining Program had more than 160 participating restaurants around metro Orlando. Four were singled out for standout performance: Otto’s High Dive (top performing new restaurant: $40 menu); The Chapman (top performing new restaurant, $60 menu; STK Orlando (largest increase in meals served year over year); and Seasons 52 Orlando (top overall performer).

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Returning presenting sponsor Erick Hawkins, Orlando Health’s chief financial officer and Visit Orlando board member, noted the inspirational effort put forth by the community to support the program.

“As a healthcare organization, we deeply understand how critical strong literacy skills are to lifelong wellbeing and we are grateful for the opportunity to support Visit Orlando as they continue working to empower our community,” Hawkins said.

For more information, visit OrlandoMagicalDining.com.

amthompson@orlandosentinel.com