In a first-ever promotion of its kind, ConAgra Foods' Lamb Weston and participating restaurants in the Tri-Cities, Wash., area gave away more than 25,000 servings of french fries to local residents on July 24 during Free Fries Fryday. The promotion kicked off the community's annual Tri-City Water Follies and Lamb Weston Columbia Cup Hydroplane Race weekend.

Working with 35 local independent and chain restaurant locations, the company provided its quality french fry products to the eateries to serve for free throughout the day. From local hamburger favorites to national chain fast-food restaurants to sports bars and hotel restaurants, thousands of residents walked in or drove through and enjoyed a total of 25,200 free servings of fries.

In addition to satisfying thousands of Tri-Cities residents with terrific french fries, Free Fries Fryday boosted local restaurant business and helped to tie the local restaurant community to the Water Follies event.

"Lamb Weston has been an official sponsor of the Water Follies Columbia Cup for three years now, and this year we really wanted to reach out to the community in a new and bigger way," Jeff DeLapp, president of Lamb Weston, said in a press release. "We have more than 4,000 employees who live and work here in the Columbia Basin and many of the products we make in our facilities here are enjoyed by restaurant patrons throughout the Tri-Cities area, as well as restaurants and foodservice operations around the world. We know that people love fries, but we really didn’t know what to expect, so we're very pleased this was such a big success for our customers and our community," he added.

"No question about it, we did see an increase in traffic in all three of our stores. We sold more of everything…we saw a 20 percent bump in business, particularly at the lunch hour," Mike Scott, owner of Bruchi's Cheesesteaks and Subs, said in a press release.

For a complete list of participating restaurants and more information on Free Fries Fryday, visit www.freefriesfryday.com.