Stories

Brixx Pizza is GOOD. That is a fact.

Here’s another fact- Brixx Pizza does a whole lot of GOOD for the Charlotte community.

Have you ever noticed the feeling you get walking into a Brixx Pizza location? No, not hunger. The other one, the feeling that you are welcome.

That is not an accident- Brixx Pizza strives for each of their five Charlotte locations to be neighborhood restaurants that welcome everyone and that are involved in the community that surrounds them.

"We're locals who love to support local, and staying involved with our community helps our neighborhoods thrive,” said Managing Partner, Jeff Van Dyke. “Engaging with and giving back to our community has been our favorite way to thank our Charlotte neighbors for supporting us for more than 20 years.”

Each store works with local schools, churches and nonprofit organizations to host Brixx Buxx fundraising events where Brixx helps the benefitting organization create and promote a special flyer and then, on the day of the event, donates $3 for every adult pizza and $1 for every kids’ pizza sold back to the partnering organization.

During #GivingTuesdayCLT in November, Brixx Pizza gave both in-kind and financial donations to local nonprofits participating in the campaign, including SHARE Charlotte, Community Culinary School of Charlotte, and Charlotte is Creative.

Charlotte is Creative received $3 from every Bronx Bomber pizza sold during the week of #GivingTuesdayCLT, and with that money they were able to fund eight HUG micro-grants! That is a $2,000 investment from Brixx into some of our city’s most creative ideas that are in need of, well, a hug.

What is a HUG micro-grant? Offered by Charlotte Is Creative and the Charlotte chapter of CreativeMornings, a HUG which stands for “Helpful, Unfettered Gift,” is a $250 grant that serves as encouragement for creative ideas that just need a little help in the funding department.

HUGs are intended to:

• Help fund a Creative Charlottean to pursue their passions, whether they be vocations or avocations.

• Help change the conversation about Charlotte’s creativity by supporting creative endeavors that highlight the incredible artistic spirit of The Queen City.

• Help ease the financial burden many creative Charlotteans face every day in pursuit of their passions.

• Help push a creative idea or impulse into reality.

#GivingTuesdayCLT was not Brixx Pizza’s first time investing in Charlotte is Creative’s mission. In fact, the two have a history together.

Time for a history lesson!

Charlotte is Creative’s co-founder and resident “Creative Troublemaker”, Tim Miner, was a consultant for Brixx Pizza when they were first expanding from the original location on East Boulevard into other cities (and now 8 states). After working for them as an outside consultant, Tim served inside the company as Director of Marketing AKA "Marketing Dude" for almost 8 years, leaving to pursue Charlotte Is Creative late last year.

Tim says that during his time with Brixx, he was always supported by the company to continue to pursue his journey into the nonprofit and creative world with co-founder of Charlotte is Creative and longtime friend, Matt Olin.

Tim is grateful that Brixx always believed in what he and Matt were creating and that they made it possible for him to follow his passion and start what have now grown to be popular Charlotte attractions, CreativeMornings and The Queen City Quiz Show, as well as start a nonprofit organization, all while still working full time for the company.

“When companies contribute in that way and allow employees to volunteer, that donation means as much as writing a check” says Tim Miner.

Brixx Pizza and Charlotte is Creative both know the importance of giving back to the city that supports you, weather that means giving time, money, or even, a HUG. That is what makes their partnership easy as pie.