Texas Roadhouse fundraiser benefits American Tinnitus Association

(ABC 6 News) – Texas Roadhouse is donating 100-percent of their profits tonight from dine-ins and to-go sales to the American Tinnitus Association. All for a reason very close to its heart.

This fundraiser is being done to honor Kent Taylor, the company’s late founder who had tinnitus, a condition that affects more than 26 million Americans.

According to the Mayo Clinic, Tinnitus is when you experience ringing or other noises in one or both of your ears. The noise you hear when you have tinnitus isn’t caused by an external sound, and other people usually can’t hear it. Tinnitus is a common problem. It affects about 15% to 20% of people, and is especially common in older adults.

More than 26 million adults in the United States battle tinnitus.

"It’s important to us, not only me but as a company, our late founder Kent Taylor suffered from tinnitus before his death and he was very much into research for the cause of tinnitus and was very passionate about funding that research to find a cure for it so we wanted to carry on his legacy and honor him that way," Texas Roadhouse Managing partner Zach Mattison said.

In addition to the restaurant fundraiser, through March 31, Texas Roadhouse will donate ten percent from the online sales of all Texas Roadhouse /ATA co-branded gift cards to the American Tinnitus Association.

The gift cards are available online at texasroadhouse.com.