Larosa’s Raises Over One Half Million Dollars To Support Team Members

In early April, The LaRosa Family and LaRosa’s Family Pizzerias launched the LaRosa’s Team Member Relief Fund with $100,000 in seed-funding, designed to directly support LaRosa’s nearly 4,000 pizzeria team members and their families affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, until LaRosa’s dining rooms reopened after state-mandated closures. In just ten short weeks, the fund raised $ 512,750 through:

• $ 183,600 in Buddy Card sales to guests

• $ 22,775 in cash donations from guests

• $ 306,375 contributed by the LaRosa Family (initial funding & dollar-for-dollar match)

The closure of all restaurant and bar dining rooms in mid-March directly affected many LaRosa’s Team Members. The closures of schools and daycares made it difficult for many other Team Members to work designated pizzeria hours.

“The thanks and appreciation we’ve received from Team Members has been overwhelming; for our family, it’s been wonderful to see how much this effort has truly made a difference to them and their families given the uncertainty they’ve experienced”, said Michael LaRosa, CEO, LaRosa’s, Inc. “We have been humbled by the generosity of the community-at-large who have been so willing to jump in and help”, he continued. LaRosa’s dining rooms have now reopened with new safety protocols in place and the Team Member Relief Fund effort concluded on May 31, 2020.

LaRosa’s was founded in 1954 on Cincinnati’s West Side by Buddy LaRosa. It is now a $167 million restaurant company with 65 pizzerias serving neighborhoods in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.