From now on until March 31, 24 Big Boy company-owned restaurants, located in Michigan and Ohio, will display informational materials and donation cans to benefit the University of Michigan Frances and Kenneth Eisenberg and Family Depression Center’s Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Fund’s research projects.
“We are excited to partner with the Prechter fund and raise money for such a worthy cause,” says Robert Liggett, owner of Big Boy Restaurants International. “We are proud to be a part of the communities we serve, especially in our home state of Michigan. The research conducted by the dedicated scientists at the University of Michigan benefits those of the general public who are suffering from bipolar disorder.”
The Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Fund’s mission is to support research into bipolar disorder in order to find genetic solutions for individuals with this illness to help them live an excellent quality of life.
Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, affects almost 6 million adults in the United States. It is caused by chemical imbalances in the brain and marked by significant changes in mood, thoughts, energy and behavior.
“The research we’re doing is opening new avenues to help us understand this devastating condition,” says Melvin McInnis, M.D., the Thomas B. and Nancy Upjohn Woodworth Professor of Bipolar Disorder and Depression at the U-M Medical School, the principal investigator of the Prechter Fund, and associate director of the U-M Eisenberg Family Depression Center. “We are very grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the Big Boy group in getting the word out about bipolar illness and its debilitating effects on so many people. Bipolar is like any other illness – cancer, diabetes, heart disease – and deserves the same urgency.”
Big Boy Restaurants International is a restaurant chain headquartered in Warren, Michigan. The company owns or franchises more than 100 Big Boy locations throughout the United States. Since its first location opened in 1936, Big Boy has become an iconic symbol of Americana, standing for all-American cooking and a fun, family-friendly atmosphere. Today, Big Boy International is growing with a new, efficient inline restaurant model in addition to its freestanding restaurants.