From Pizza to Purpose: How the Pittsburgh Pizza Olympics Helped Create More Memories for Families Facing Cancer

What happens when you combine Pittsburgh's love of pizza with a community committed to making a difference?

You create something truly extraordinary.

This year marked the inaugural Pittsburgh Pizza Olympics, a one-of-a-kind event that brought together some of the region's most beloved pizzerias, passionate food lovers, local businesses, and community supporters for a day filled with competition, creativity, and incredible food. But what made this event truly special wasn't just what happened on the pizza ovens—it was the impact that followed.

Through an inspiring collaboration between the Pittsburgh Pizza Olympics team, designer Daniel Gurwin, and Daniel Parente of Revival Print Co., official Pittsburgh Pizza Olympics shirts were created with a powerful purpose. Every shirt sold helped support One Day to Remember and our mission of creating meaningful experiences for families facing advanced-stage cancer.

Thanks to this incredible effort, more than $5,000 was raised to help provide unforgettable moments for the families we serve.

Recently, Pittsburgh Pizza Olympics founder Neil Blazin presented One Day to Remember founder Rachel Antin with a check representing the proceeds from the event and shirt sales. While the check itself was a meaningful moment, what it truly represented was something much larger: future memories waiting to be made.

It represents a family who will spend a carefree day together without the weight of appointments and treatments taking center stage. It represents laughter shared around a dinner table, a child's excitement during a special experience, and photographs that will become treasured keepsakes for years to come.

For the families we serve, these moments matter. They provide opportunities to step away from the realities of advanced-stage cancer and focus on what matters most—being together.

The success of the Pittsburgh Pizza Olympics was made possible by an incredible community of restaurants, sponsors, performers, volunteers, and supporters who came together around a shared goal. We are deeply grateful to the entire Pittsburgh Pizza Olympics team and participating vendors, including Spirit, Driftwood Oven, Badamo's Pizza, Spak Brothers, 77 Club, La Grassa, Gus Franco's Pizza, Slice on Broadway, Piccolo Forno, Rockaway Pizzeria, and Pizza Lupo.

To everyone who purchased a shirt, attended the event, supported a vendor, volunteered their time, or helped spread the word, thank you. Every contribution played a role in turning a fun community event into something that will have a lasting impact on local families.

At One Day to Remember, we often talk about the power of memories. The Pittsburgh Pizza Olympics showed us that when a community comes together with generosity and purpose, even something as simple as a slice of pizza can help create moments that families will carry with them forever.

Thank you for helping make more memories possible.