The event raised about $45,000
BOARDMAN
About 1,200 people and 12 local pizzerias came together for one reason.
The fifth annual Mahoning Valley Pizza Cook-Off on Sunday at Mr. Anthony’s raised about $45,000 for the Potential Development Program, a private nonprofit agency that serves about 130 area kids with autism and other developmental delays.
The program operates four schools — a preschool in Howland all the way up to a high school in Youngstown that opened in September, said Shellie Duchek, its development officer. The program’s two other schools are in Youngstown, she said.
“My nephew, Noah, is autistic, and we came out to support Potential Development,” said Mike Rossi of Austintown. “It’s a great cause, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s nice to see so many people coming here for this event.”
Terry Dutton of Boardman said he was at the event to support the program and for the food.
“This benefits one of the best things we have in the Valley,” he said. “It all goes to the kids. Also, I love pizza. It’s one of my all-time favorite foods. I could probably eat it five days a week. I grew up in Lowellville and ate a lot of pizza growing up. The best pizza places in the area are here.”
Among the 12 local pizzerias was Cocca’s Pizza, which opened a shop in Boardman in 1982 and now has five other locations — Poland, Canfield, New Middletown, Liberty and Girard, said Steve Cocca, its owner.
“We’re here to raise money for a good cause — Potential Development and for kids with autism,” he said. “It’s great what they’ve done with the money. They added a new high school. It makes it so worth it to be here. It’s also great to mingle with the other pizza shops. We’re here together for such an important cause.”
Tickets for the event were $15, and sold out quickly. The event also featured auctions and raffles.
Helping those at the event were 80 volunteers.
“We needed every single one of them,” Duchek said. “This has grown every year into such a huge event.”
The program’s schools provide individualized educational services as well as speech and occupational therapies to autistic children, she said.
The schools provide small classroom sizes with about one teacher for every two students, and six or seven kids in a class, she said.
There are about 130 students enrolled in the program’s schools, Duchek said. With the addition of high school services, the program saw a 30 percent enrollment increase this school year, she said.
Gloria Chojnacki of Campbell, a kindergarten assistant for the program for the past six years, said Sunday’s pizza cook-off “is a great event. It’s awesome. I love working there, and the kids are great.”