Every community has a shining star – someone who works hard to improve the world around them or donates their own time and energy to benefit a special cause or charity. Qdoba Mexican Grill hopes to shine the light on many of these community stars through a new online campaign called <a href="http://www.qdobaqmmunity.com"Qmmunity, while at the same time shining a light on its own national charity partner, <a href="http://www.starlight.org/home.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/site/lookup.asp"Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Through an easy online nomination and voting process, one Qmmunity star will be chosen to receive a grand prize – a $5,000 donation to the charity of their choice and a Starlight Fun Center mobile entertainment unit donated to a hospital on Starlight’s wait list in or near the winner’s city of residence.

The launch of Qmmunity marks Qdoba’s first national campaign with Starlight Children’s Foundation.

In 2008, Qdoba selected Starlight as the company’s national charity partner. Starlight is an international charity dedicated to helping seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities. As part of the Qmmunity campaign, Qdoba will donate $1 to Starlight (up to $25,000) for every action visitors take on the Qmmunity site, including: submitting a nomination, voting for a nominee, Tweeting about a nominee, posting about the program on Facebook and making a public pledge.

Visitors to Qdoba’s Qmmunity Web site are asked to nominate someone who is making a difference in their community by briefly sharing what makes that person a shining star: their story, cause, and their effect on their charity of choice and their community. Community stars supporting any 501(c)3 registered charities are eligible for entry.

Once submitted, visitors are encouraged to campaign online and encourage others to vote for their favorite nominee using viral tools available through the site such as e-mail, Facebook and Twitter. At the end of the nomination and voting period on Nov. 1, 2009 at 9 p.m., the five nominees with the most votes will become eligible to compete for the grand prize – a $5,000 donation to their charity of choice and a Starlight Fun Center donated to a hospital in their area.

“We are thrilled to launch Qdoba’s Qmmunity to not only help raise money to support Starlight’s efforts in brightening the lives of seriously ill children, but also to honor all the everyday stars who work tirelessly with other charities to improve their own communities,” said Gary Beisler, president and CEO of Qdoba Mexican Grill. “Since we opened our first restaurant in 1995, our team members have demonstrated a passion for giving back to guests and to the communities in which Qdoba operates. Working together with our employees, Starlight, our guests and their communities, we hope that Qmmunity will ultimately help brighten the lives of people throughout the country.”

In Redmond, Qdoba Mexican Grill is located at 15946 Redmond Way. For information, call (425) 881-6829.