Toys and pizza, a winning combination.
Brick Oven Pizza and Catering has organized a toy drive for Saturday. The event, which is set to take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., will be held in the Ace Hardware parking lot on West Washington Street in Bradford.
“This year has been a tough year for everyone, I wanted an idea that would help bring happiness to children and families who are in need this Christmas,” Brick Oven Pizza owner Rob Gault said. “Once the new restrictions were announced for bars/restaurants, I also wanted an idea to help bring money to some of the people who have lost their jobs due to the recent restrictions. I figured that Brick Oven Pizza and Catering could be the tool to spread the joy this year.”
Gault also invited bartenders, waitstaff and other servers who have been impacted by Gov. Tom Wolf’s most recent COVID-19 regulations, which shut down dine-in for all area restaurants, to assist with the toy drive and pizza serving.
“We do have several waitstaff/bartenders that have come forth and volunteered their time for the event. They work for different bars and restaurants in the area that were forced to shut down weeks before Christmas… That just doesn’t seem fair to me, so we want to help as much as possible,” he said. “We’re thankful for the volunteers that we have on the list already. The amount of support for each other throughout the community in troubled times is beyond wonderful. It’s truly amazing.”
Toys of all ages will be accepted. Gift wrapping is optional. Gault explained that once the public drops off a toy, or boxes of toys, or whatever they can, pizza is served.
“We’ll be giving out (for their kind toy donation) freshly made pepperoni (or plain cheese) pizzas to take home or to eat wherever they’d like,” he said.
Gault noted there will be a tip jar on site for those who are volunteering their time, so the public is asked to tip the waitstaff, if possible. Donations were accepted from area businesses at $10 per pizza, with $1 of that going to the tip jar.
Gault plans to donate pizzas in addition to those sponsored by other businesses.
As for where the toys are headed, the most important thing to Gault is helping those who may be having a difficult time this holiday season.
“We haven’t determined an exact organization to distribute the toys to, but since this is a community event, we’d like to take care of those in the community who are in need this year,” Gault said. “So we encourage people to speak up if they are in need, before we determine a final organization to take the toys.”
