Annual Diaper Drive

TERRA CENTRE - THIRD ANNUAL DIAPER DRIVE

June 14-24 2018

The final count of our 3rd Annual LOVEPIZZA Gives Diaper Drive is in! We nearly doubled our total from 2017. We delivered over 200 boxes (about 23,500 individual diapers) to the Terra Centre in 5 SUVs. This diaper drive once again proves how amazing our LOVEPIZZA community is. We are so thankful for all of your support, it's overwhelming. For every box of diapers brought into our stores we gave our customers a free pizza as a thank you, that’s over 200 pizzas!

A special thank you to some of our catering customers, suppliers and community friends for getting your teams involved to help us reach our goal.

We can't wait until next year... look out we have big plans.

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TERRA CENTRE - SECOND ANNUAL DIAPER DRIVE

June 9-18 2017

diaper drive (in both downtown and St Albert shops)

For each LOVEPIZZA Gives initiative that we do, we make sure we spend some time in and around the organization to really understand what they really do. I had the honour of touring Terra Centre, specifically their Braemar School facility in the Ottwell community. To say I (and my own mama, who I had with me) were blown away is an understatement. With 150 students (45 of which graduated with a high school diploma that Friday - yay!), all young parents or soon to be parents completing their high school educations AND their children (age 3 weeks to 3 years) being cared for and taught under the watchful eye of early childhood teachers - all under one roof. WOW.

This facility represents only a fraction of what the Terra Centre does for young parents in our community, but it's such a special place. I read and listened to stories, met 2 year olds that remind me so much of my own son and I honestly fell so in love with this place. The sense of family, love and COMMUNITY is so strong and so important to these young families.

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That statement above on the wall at Terra is so true - they DO differ, but every child deserves a childhood. This is WHY Gavin and I see so much value in helping these "not-so-well-known" organizations through our LOVEPIZZA Gives program, the work they do is so important to our community. 

And that is also why we get our son involved in our business and our LOVEPIZZA Gives program in any way that we can. He is our future and we want him to be as proud of this business as we are. We want his childhood to be filled with being a positive change in the world and a bright light in someone's day.

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Our Terra Centre diaper drive was such a success - a total of 115 boxes were collected between our two stores. An average box of diapers cost between $35 to $40 per box - so that is over $4,000 in diapers. We gave away 115 pizzas as thank yous over the span of 10 days to our amazing contributors! So THANK YOU again to our customers and our downtown Edmonton & St Albert community!

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H.E.R. PREGNANCY PROGRAM - FIRST ANNUAL DIAPER DRIVE

Boyle Street Community Services

PLUS our first annual diaper drive!

Back in August 2016 we dropped off some dessert pizzas (the Peach Pie) to the Edmonton Community Foundation where an event was being held by the ladies of Apricity to raise awareness and funds for the H.E.R. Pregnancy Program but also to CELEBRATE it. We learned more about the program here and knew it was one that we wanted to support through LOVEPIZZA Gives . That event was another reminder of how amazing Edmonton is and how thankful WE are to own a business in this community. I was introduced the the H.E.R Pregnancy Program by Sarah Chan, known around these parts as the "first lady of Edmonton" - the passion this lady has for the city and those in need are contagious. She is a gift to this city and is always getting involved in any way she can to make this place we all call home even better. 

photo by FM PHOTOSTUDIOS

photo by FM PHOTOSTUDIOS


photo by FM PHOTOSTUDIOS

photo by FM PHOTOSTUDIOS


This LOVEPIZZA Gives week is one that hit my heart pretty hard.

When I found out I was pregnant with our son, my doctor started asking all of the routine questions. The one that will always stick with me was “do you have support”? Without even thinking for a second I said “Yes, amazing support” which I am so grateful for.  And that really made me think about all of the women out there who have no one to guide, support or love them during pregnancy and post-partum.

When the H.E.R. program was really first layed out to me it came from a fellow mom – Sarah.. We swapped stories, had some good laughs – and then got down to what the H.E.R. pregnancy program was really about. Both of us were in tears within a minute or two. Sarah told me that many of these women have never seen a doctor until they actually went into labour, have no home and have no means to diaper or clothe their new baby. Many of these women are in a cycle living on the streets that they just can’t get out of. So they find themselves back on the streets right after the birth and in the same position again and again.

No woman should have to go through this once. Let alone multiple times.

Sarah also shared with me success stories from the program that perhaps made me cry even more. For example, one young woman who was in an abusive relationship and using meth. When she found out she was pregnant, she quit everything. She is now an employee of H.E.R. helping others get healthy for themselves and for their babies.

Sarah said to me “it’s not a sexy charity” – and it’s not. But it’s so important and it needs to be shared.

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We made 1637 pizzas during that week so we donated $1640 to the H.E.R. Pregnancy Program. We also trekked through the mud in front of Boyle Street to drop off all of the diaper donations from the week - 35 boxes! Thanks to Amor from Apricity for helping us out and introducing us to the amazing women involved in the HER Program. Seeing that wall of beautiful moms and babies that the HER Pregnancy Program has helped really hit home.

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And as a side note: the happiness and appreciation within Boyle Street is infectious. Those receiving services there are just happy to be breathing, eating and socializing. Makes you check your own issues at the door and REALLY appreciate the little things.

Dropping off all of the diapers at Boyle Street Services.

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