Did you know that eating a slice of pizza can help save a child’s life?
Until May 3, Pizza Pizza will be holding its first Slices for Smiles fundraiser of 2009 for Children’s Miracle Network.
The Slices for Smiles campaign, which runs in more than 430 participating Pizza Pizza locations, is expected to play a significant part in raising more than $100,000 for the Slices for Smiles Foundation this year, which, in turn, will donate the funds to Children’s Miracle Network.
A portion of the proceeds from the purchase of cheese slices and medium cheese and pepperoni pizzas throughout the week will be go to support local children’s hospitals.
Pizza Pizza locations, in addition to providing value menu offerings, will also be employing several other fundraising channels, including donation options for online and call centre orders, the sale of Children’s Miracle Network balloons in-store with bounce back offers to consumers and coin donation boxes.
Children’s Miracle Network is confident Canadians will show a healthy and generous appetite for the campaign’s deals and the ease with which they can give back to their local children’s hospital.
"One in four children in Canada will visit a children’s hospital every year," said John Hartman, chief international officer for Children’s Miracle Network.
"We and our member hospitals are grateful for Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73’s commitment to helping raise much-needed funds for sick and injured children across the country."
As part of the week-long event, all traditional Pizza Pizza restaurants in Canada will be offering cheese slices to consumers for $1.75, and medium cheese or pepperoni pizzas to walk-in customers for $5.
Twenty-five cents from the sale of each slice and 50 cents from the sale of each medium pizza will be donated. Customers looking to purchase four or more medium pizzas can pre-order through the call centre for pick-up.
"Slices for Smiles is based on the simple foundation that children love pizza," said Pat Finelli, chief marketing officer for Pizza Pizza.
"We started the program in 2007 to celebrate our 40th anniversary. Since then, we’ve grown a fair bit … so we’re excited to add new features and additional days to our fundraiser while broadening our support of hospitals across Canada."
The monies raised will go toward providing state-of-the-art care, purchasing specialized equipment, supporting preventative education programs and pediatric research for Children’s Miracle Network member hospitals in Canada.
The Slices for Smiles Foundation has raised more than $200,000 for children’s charities since first introduced.
