Sales were up – way up – at all Mary’s Pizza Shack locations in Sonoma County on Monday, July 27, as the restaurants worked to raise money for the “Bridge the Doyle” campaign by Santa Rosa Junior College. The family pizza chain is partnering with the JC so that scholarship money can be raised for 2,000 Sonoma County high school seniors, many of who were left without funds when the Doyle scholarship program was indefinitely discontinued earlier this year.
Mary’s pledged to donate 10 percent of total sales during the event at all of its 10 Sonoma County locations. One of the best performing locations, Boyes Hot Springs saw a jump of 21 percent in sales. The countywide increase in sales hit 10 percent, allowing the Mary’s corporation to generate a total $4,886.
Vince Albano, grandson of Mary’s founder, Mary Fazio and newly appointed CEO of the corporation, said the company would round that figure up to $5,000.
Established by Exchange Bank co-founder Frank Doyle as part of his will, the Doyle scholarships are funded by dividends on just over half the bank’s stock. The cash flow to students attending SRJC had been constant since 1950, until the suspension was imposed.
It should be noted that Doyles for currently enrolled students who have scholarships from last year are being renewed but that new applications are not being accepted. Kathy Summers, a vice principal at Sonoma Valley High School, said it was impossible to tell how many graduating seniors were affected, as her staff had recognized the possibility of losing the Doyle scholarships and so didn’t hold the traditional workshops to help students fill out the necessary forms.
“Raising these funds makes me immediately think of my grandmother,” said Albano. “She was a strong believer in supporting the community and in the importance of education. She would have been as happy as I am that we can be a part of the effort to replace the Doyle scholarship funds.”
