Pizza Fundraiser Nets Easterseals More Than $3,000
Derek Redd Trending
A good pizza is always welcome, and earlier this year, some good pizzas went toward helping out a good cause -- Easterseals.
The organization -- which helps people with physical and developmental special needs -- held a fundraiser for National Pizza Party Day on May 17. That fundraiser brought Easterseals $3,084 after it raised $654 the year before.
Easterseals Marketing Director Betsy Bethel-McFarland approached pizzerias earlier this year, and they agreed to supply free pizzas to organizations that donated over a certain amount. This year's participating pizzerias were Greco's, DiCarlo's, Domino's, DeFelice Bros., Pizza Express, Vocelli, Little Caesars and Original PJ's Pizza, donating 53 pies and eight trays.
Donor organizations included the office of orthodontist Dr. Daniel Joseph, Easterseals, Facebook fundraiser donors, Kalkreuth Roofing and Sheet Metal, Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration, Richardson's Copy Concepts, RSQP Print and Design, WTRF-TV and the Ohio County Schools administrative offices.
Not only did Original PJ's Pizza supply some pies, the restaurant also offered a cash donation. Easterseals is close to the heart of Original PJ's co-owner Erika Donaghy. She has utilized Easterseals services and credits the organization and its medical director Dr. Ellen Kitts with helping her continue to walk.
Donaghy has Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome, a degenerative nerve disease that leads to muscle weakness, decreased muscle size and decreased sensation, among other symptoms. Kitts helped Donaghy receive treatment at the Cleveland Clinic, and Donaghy said Kitts' work was essential to her living more comfortably.
"She's so personable," Donaghy said. "She sits down and actually listens instead of just going, hey, here, have a thousand tests. I've been through all that and been misdiagnosed. She actually cares. She sits down and actually talks to you."
Joseph's office also has a longstanding relationship with Easterseals. Debbie Joseph, Daniel Joseph's wife, has been a 40-year board member at Easterseals. The Josephs are co-chairs of the Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta, the proceeds of which go to the organization.
"Anytime something new comes down the pike that we can help with, we like to help," Debbie Joseph said, "and this one was an easy one. We told our staff that we were buying each of them a pizza for lunch. It was a great thing for them, because they had lunch and some of them had dinner. And it was a great way to support a new initiative at Easterseals. A big piece of my heart is in this place."
Bethel-McFarland hopes to expand the fundraiser even further next year, possibly getting local schools involved in raising the donations to hold pizza parties on that day.