St. Louis-based Katie’s (formerly Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria) has achieved a huge milestone in its efforts to support local charitable organizations. With its December Giveback Tuesday donations, Katie’s, owned by restaurateur and entrepreneur Katie Lee, has gifted more than $500,000 to St. Louis area nonprofit organizations over the past 10 years.
On Tuesday, December 17, Katie’s celebrated by hosting Giveback Tuesday events at its Ballpark Village, Rock Hill and Town & Country locations to support this month’s charity donation recipients. All of the proceeds from every sale of lunch, dinner, drinks, curbside pickup and frozen pizzas will be split evenly and donated to Cornerstone Center for Early Learning, The Left Bank Books Foundation and Mercy Health Foundation.
“It has always felt so good to give back, and reaching half a million dollars in donations over the past 10 years is a dream come true,” Lee said. “We were only able to get Katie’s started through the help of an online fundraising campaign. We’re humbled by the generosity of the St. Louis community and can’t wait to keep working together to support and strengthen our region’s charity organizations.”
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In addition to receiving an even split of the day’s proceeds, each organization had information available at a pop-up spot within one of the three Katie’s locations on December 17 for guests to visit and learn more:
- Katie’s Ballpark Village: The Left Bank Books Foundation
The Left Bank Books Foundation’s mission is to increase public access to books and their authors, hold space for community conversations guided by books and their authors, increase critical literacy and the love of reading for St. Louisans of all ages, and do so in a way that centers marginalized communities. The foundation’s Literacy & Justice For All Campaign supports programming including events and projects that address racism, sexism and gender identity while also giving a platform to the best literary voices of the day.
- Katie’s Rock Hill: Cornerstone Center for Early Learning
The mission of Cornerstone Center for Early Learning is to nurture confident young minds while supporting all families. The organization strengthens families by providing award-winning accredited and licensed education and care for children of all economic backgrounds. Funds will be used to give children facing adversity the strong foundation needed to build a lifetime of positive social interaction and learning.
- Katie’s Town & Country: Mercy Health Foundation
Mercy Health Foundation supports Mercy Hospital St. Louis and Mercy Clinic East with initiatives across our communities in creating treatment options for all who need it, regardless of their ability to pay. The foundation also helps fund the acquisition of advanced medical technologies and life-saving equipment.
Lee’s dream to bring hand-made, in-house artisan and Neapolitan pizza to St. Louis began through one location under the ownership of her father, Tom Lee, in 2008. Today, Katie’s includes three locations. Katie’s Rock Hill opened in 2013 followed by the Town & Country location in 2017. The largest location opened in 2023 in downtown St. Louis’ Ballpark Village featuring a pasta-making station, wood-fired grill, expansive patio, private events space and in-house market selling to-go items.
Katie’s portfolio of fresh and frozen pizzas, pastas and sauces are available at many grocery retailers and shipped nationwide. Frozen pizzas will be available in 2025 in Walmart stores.
