Grotto Pizza raises $28K for Haiti relief

Twelve Grotto Pizza restaurants in the area, including the one on Main Street, donated 15 percent of their pizza sales last week to support relief efforts following the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti.

Laura McCann, director of employee and community relations for Grotto Pizza, said the restaurants set a fundraising goal of $20,000 to $30,000.

Sales figures through Sunday, the most recent ones available, show that $28,000 has been raised, she said.

The Main Street store alone has collected $3,000 to $4,000 in donations, said general manager Russ Wiedenmann.

Wiedenmann said the location of the restaurant has produced a slight elevation in customers, but a better turnout was hoped for.

While the restaurant was somewhat disappointed with the number of sales, he said when compared to the amount of money raised by other Grotto Pizza locations, the Main Street Grotto Pizza accounts for a significant portion of the revenues.

Pizza donations were made automatically during each customer's purchase and required no coupon or verbal recognition. The fundraiser also applied to all pizza sales, including delivery and orders for take-out.

The funds will be donated to the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Through UMCOR, 100 percent of the funds will directly benefit the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

According to the UMCOR website, UMCOR provides tools to work toward long-term recovery as well as immediate relief.

At the Main Street location, signs advertised the fundraiser, and employees wore buttons advertising the Grotto Pizza Haiti relief efforts.

“ Many people seem to know about the fundraiser and ask about it when they come in,” said freshman Dorothy Weldon, a hostess for the restaurant.

Customers Larry and Jenn Wolfe said they knew about the fundraiser prior to dining at the establishment. They said they have been following the crisis in Haiti and planed to tell friends about the fundraiser.

Grotto Pizza owner Dominick Pulieri has organized similar fundraisers following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia and Hurricane Katrina, McCann said.

“He’s very community based,” she said.

The fundraiser ended Tuesday, but for those still hoping to participate, a donation box will remain available at the Grotto Pizza counter.

 

• Facebook Comments
• Site Comments

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out