• Josh Elchert, owner of Heavenly Pizza in Findlay, Ohio, pledged to hand over an entire day’s profits to his team for Employee Appreciation Day earlier this month.
• Thanks to enthusiastic support from the community, the shop had 220 orders, more than twice the usual daily average of 90, with $6,300 in sales and $1,200 in tips.

Related: How Brenen’s Restaurant Group retains its best employees

Employees at Heavenly Pizza in Findlay, Ohio, got a big fat raise to $78 an hour—if only for one day.

Heavenly Pizza owner Josh Elchert announced on social media that it was celebrating Employee Appreciation Day on July 5, with the entire day’s profits going straight to the employees.

The next day, he posted again, noting that his shop raked in 220 orders, more than twice the usual daily average of 90, with $6,300 in sales and $1,200 in tips. It averaged out to $78 an hour per employee who worked that day, he said.

In a social media video, Elchert said his workers deserved every penny. “Our employees have been so great during COVID, during the pandemic, during this season of uncertainty,” he said. “They’ve just been fantastic. They show up every day. They’re here in a good mood. We want to take a day and appreciate them.”

Elchert’s original goal was around 200 orders for that day, which would have added up to between $40 and $50 an hour. But the public’s enthusiastic reaction to his social media post upped that number a bit. The video post garnered 114 reactions, 28 comments and 89 shares. Meanwhile, Michael Tatar, a reporter for WTOL 11 in Toledo, took to Facebook and posted a video teaser for his story on Heavenly Pizza and later posted the story itself, ensuring that Heavenly Pizza remained in the news after the event.

One of Heavenly Pizza’s employees told WTOL that the pizzeria’s staff feels like family to him now. “Find a place where you feel purpose, and you won’t feel like you’re meaningless,” he said. “You’ll feel right where you’re supposed to be.”