Great Circle

Wednesday, 4 April 2018

Incredible Pizza Partnership with Great Circle

Springfield’s Incredible Pizza has been partnering with Great Circle for about four months.

Great Circle is a Missouri based non-profit that has become one of the most comprehensive providers of behavioral health services in all of Missouri. They provide an atmosphere where families and individuals can grow and learn in times of struggle. The trained professionals who work for great circle are guided by the Core Values of compassion, diversity, fun, integrity, mission-focused, professional excellence, stewardship, and transparency. Great Circle hopes to equip families with the tools and support they need to reach a place where they can thrive.

 Some examples of services Great Circle offers are 24-Hour care, Autism services, Counseling, Crisis Services, Education, Home and Community Based services, Parenting Support, Day Care, Psychological Services, Foster Parent Training, Supervised visitation, Foster Care Case Management, Intensive Family Intervention Services, Intensive Family Reunification Services, and Transitional Living Group Homes.

Incredible Pizza supports Great Circle’s mission, and we hope to make an impact on children and to be a part of building a better future. We have strived to help Great Circle in three ways: fundraising, employment, and creating a safe place for families to rebuild.

Fundraising

Incredible Pizza understands that our customers are all in different financial situations. We choose to offer multiple options for fundraising. We ask our guests if they would like to round up their purchase to the nearest dollar, and we also ask guests if they would like to make a $5 donation and we give them a Free Attraction at our store. So far the Springfield store has raised about $4,000 for great circle- that’s an average of $40 a day! Our goal is to train our cashiers to ask every customer if they would like to donate to at risk youth, and we have high hopes to raise $30-50,000 a year for Great Circle.

Employment

Incredible Pizza knows and is sensitive to the struggles that at-risk youth have gone through. At age 17, Missouri residents are considered adults. It can be difficult to find jobs at 17 when you’ve had a rough life. Springfield’s Incredible Pizza has given Great Circle applicants 1st chance to an interview. If a Great Circle teen applies for an open position at Incredible Pizza, we guarantee them an interview. This doesn’t always mean they will get hired, but we make sure to give them a fair chance at gainful employment in an environment that is fun and supportive.

Safe and Fun Place for Families

Along with what we have already implemented, Springfield’s Incredible Pizza is in the process of creating a program with Great Circle to bring families and groups in to have fun in a safe environment at no cost to the families or individuals. Many circumstances can lead to a family being separated, and there are times where reintegration is possible. Incredible Pizza is in the process of setting up a visitation pass system with Great Circle to bring those families in and let them reconnect in a safe, fun, and positive environment. This also expands to the group homes run by Great Circle. We want to provide an incentive system to those who are living in group homes the chance to experience fun with free group events for the celebration of achieving goals and reaching milestones. 

Expanding to St. Louis

We are pleased with our partnership with Great Circle in Springfield and have decided to expand our partnership to our St. Louis location in the coming months. To start in St. Louis, we will be implementing the same Fundraising strategy that we have been using in Springfield. 

To learn more about Great Circle visit: https://www.greatcircle.org/