“Day of Giving” to create Denver community positive on 10th anniversary of 9/11

Sept. 6, 2011 - PRLog -- Centennial, CO  (9/6/2011) – For the 10th consecutive year, Big Bill’s NY Pizza will commemorate the 9/11 tragedy with a special “Day of Giving” where 100 percent of all proceeds collected at the restaurant will go to charity. This year, proceeds will benefit families fighting cancer in the Denver Metro community, with the goal to raise $100,000 to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

"Everybody who is old enough to remember 9/11/2001 remembers the devastating feeling of loss. When we first started the ‘Day of Giving’ it was to create a situation where the community could come together, comfort each other and produce some kind of positive outcome because it was going to be a depressing day,” said Big Bill Ficke, owner of Big Bill’s NY Pizza. “Every year since, we have worked extra hard to make something positive happen on 9/11. On this somber anniversary, we’re planning on this ‘Day of Giving’ to make the most positive impact yet.”

The “Day of Giving” tradition at Big Bill’s NY Pizza is that for the whole day, there are no checks for any orders, guests are simply asked to make a donation in exchange for their food and drinks. The entire staff donates their salary, time and tips, vendors donate supplies and Big Bill covers any extra hard costs, so 100 percent of all funds donated go to charity. All of the “Day of Giving” money will be distributed through the nonprofit JoAnn B. Ficke Cancer Foundation that Big Bill and son Dan Ficke founded in 2009 in honor of their wife and mother who passed away in 2007.

Big Bill’s NY Pizza has raised over $600,000 for charities over the last 10 years through its “Day of Giving.”  Since 2009, the JoAnn B. Ficke Cancer Foundation has distributed more than $215,000 to organizations dedicated to cancer research and supporting cancer victims and their families in the Denver Metro area.  In 2010, the “Day of Giving” raised $67,000.

For more information on the JoAnn B. Ficke Cancer Foundation, visit http://www.JoAnnBFickeCancerFoundation.org, or for more information on Big Bill’s NY Pizza, visit http://www.BigBillsNYPizza.com.