Business

The recession has hurt all summer camps this year, but special-needs camps-—those serving children with cancer, diabetes and other diseases-—are especially feeling the pinch.

Perhaps the biggest hit has come from corporations, whose donations typically anchor these camps’ budgets. But this year many companies have shrunk their contributions or eliminated them entirely as hard times have constrained corporate generosity.

Chicago-based Children’s Oncology Services Inc., which runs the One Step At A Time camp for cancer and leukemia patients on Lake Geneva, in Williams Bay, Wis., has seen a 20 percent to 25 percent reduction in all donations, according to Executive Director Jacob Drescher.

Children’s Oncology Services drew on its cash reserves to make up for this year’s losses and cut costs wherever possible, for example, by limiting off-site travel.

“You just have to be creative with what you have and make it stretch a little more,” Drescher said.

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In a down economy, consumers’ loss might be the world’s leading fast-food chain’s gain.

With a stock price that has been climbing since mid-May and an expensive product rollout underway, McDonald’s Corp. is defying the recession despite—or perhaps because of—tightened consumer spending. As cash-strapped customers opt for a cheaper meal, the only thing the Golden Arches may have to worry about is an economic upturn.Read more

With the 90th annual National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show in Chicago heading in to its third day, many attendees are disappointed with low turnout compared with past years.

The four-day event, which attracted an estimated 71,500 attendees and more than 2,200 exhibitors in 2008, has seen a significant slimming this year, as the recession has hit one of the largest restaurant-industry gatherings in the world.

"They're holding their own, but, like everything else, [the NRA Show has] been affected" by the economy, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said Saturday on the convention floor in McCormick Place. "This is a tsunami."

The NRA could not estimate attendance before the show ends on Tuesday because of a surge in late registrants, but Greg Kirrish, vice president of sales and marketing for the association, said attendance numbers would "undoubtedly" fall short of last year's figures.

A Coca-Cola spokesman estimated a drop off of 15 to 20 percent from 2008.

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McDonald’s Corp. began a national advertising campaign for its McCafé coffee bar Tuesday in an attempt to encroach on coffee giant Starbucks Corp.’s turf.

Since introducing its premium roast drip coffee in late 2006, the Oakbrook-based fast food chain has been phasing in a line of espresso-based specialty beverages, including lattes, cappuccinos and mochas, in select stores nationwide. The McCafé is now in more than 11,000 of McDonald’s 14,000 U.S. stores, including more than 660 in the Chicago region that reaches from Milwaukee to Northwest Indiana.Read more