(Seguin) — For Jennifer Allen, owning a local pizzeria is about more than just serving up good pizza. It is also about finding ways to help the people and organizations right here in Seguin.
That commitment of making her community better has earned The Brick Seguin a $2,000 award through the Great Pizza Give Back contest sponsored by Hillshire Farm and Tyson.
The Brick was one of 10 businesses selected nationally to receive the annual award given to pizza businesses that help make a difference.
Allen says the recognition was a total surprise, especially since The Brick is a small local operation.
“I’m not a multi-million dollar company, so I’m limited on what I can give back, but I try to give back as much as we can. And so I really was not expecting it. It was more like a practice for me to think about what it is that we are trying to do with the community. So it was a big surprise for us and we were really excited for that,” said Allen.
Helping her earn the recognition is a growing list of ways that the local pizza place supports others.
Allen says these causes are not only meaningful to her but also for her employees.
“We’ve been trying to just support local causes. So a few months ago, we started with a Give Back Tuesday where we opened it up to any local nonprofits and school groups that are looking to try to raise a little extra money and put awareness on their specific either team or their group. And so that’s one of the big initiatives that we’ve tried taking on the last few months, but also just giving other support. Beyond 22 is something that’s near and dear to our hearts. We have two employees that are actually special needs and we love having them come out and all of their group come out and just supporting them, trying to build awareness for them. And then also something that’s near and dear to us is we’re all animal lovers. And so Seguin Snip Squad is another big one that we love to support,” said Allen.
As for the $2,000, Allen says she plans to reinvest it back into the community.
The Brick Seguin encourages local nonprofits interested in being supported to contact the business to discuss possible opportunities such as participation in its Give Back Tuesday.
The Brick Seguin is located at 736 E. Kingsbury St.