Jan. 14 a fundraiser for injured football player, Jordan Walker was held at five Pizza Hut locations in Corona, Norco, and Eastvale. From 4-9 p.m., 20% of all sales made at the five stores were donated to the Walker Family.
“It’s really nice to see a community come together to help out a family in need of support both emotionally and financially,” says Dina Nelson Corona resident.
Of all the stores involved, the Pizza Hut located on Foothill and Main was the busiest, bringing in approximately 100 people and raising over $500. While the sidewalk was decorated with a line of customers out the door, the inside of the store was filled with teal and black balloons and employees with teal ribbons pinned onto their shirts.
“It took a couple of weeks to put together with the help of some people that I work with at Pizza Hut. I decided to put it together because I wanted to help the Walker family ease their minds somewhat during this difficult time. They need to focus on Jordan, we will raise the money needed to help them out,” says Jamie Nelson, organizer of the fundraiser hosted by SoCal Pizza (Pizza Hut Franchise).
Prior to the event, flyers were placed on the windshields of cars in parking lots and were being handed out to shoppers in the shopping centers. Additionally, pictures were posted all over social media sites to spread the word to the residents of Corona and get as many participants as possible.
“I helped out with the fundraiser at the store on Foothill and Main, and it was pretty busy! It was really cool seeing how many people came out to support, especially because most people don’t know Jordan personally.” said Sydney Vincent (9), a student at Santiago High School.
Not only did Pizza Hut raise money through the community, but through their employees as well. Throughout the week of Jan. 13 -19, employees that donated $1 a day were able to wear jeans to work in support of Jordan. SoCal Pizza calls this their “How We Work Together Jeans Days” in which they look for reasons to give back to their local communities. Each store manager has also set up a donation bucket in their store for customers and their employees to donate money to Walker’s cause. This component of the Pizza Hut fundraiser alone is expected to bring in a significantly greater amount of money than from the customer orders placed on Jan. 14.
Each individual in the community that ordered food played an important role towards raising monies for the Walker Family with the intent to relieve them from the high medical costs of Jordan’s hospitalization.
