Pearl Bar & Dining in Bellevue has been selected in the small restaurant category as a 2010 Restaurant Neighbor Award winner, on account of its charitable contributions, according to the Washington Restaurant Association.

Pearl’s Holiday Giving Project made a significant impact on the Bellevue community, because it assisted families (notably women and children) through two community outreach agencies on the Eastside: Overlake Service League and Eastside Domestic Violence Program. Pearl closed the entire restaurant on Dec. 1, 2009, for a fundraising event to collect toys for the many children in the organization’s homeless shelters and programs.

Through their marketing outreach to their regular customers, more than $1,000 in toys and another $3,000 in cash donations were raised that night alone, the restaurant association said.

Pearl was one of four state RNA award winners. It now competes for a chance at the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Neighbor Award, a program that recognizes outstanding community service in the U.S. restaurant industry.