Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream, which was featured on PMQ Pizza’s cover in the January-February 2025 print issue, is a growing Midwestern brand that focuses on meeting its communities’ social needs, especially when it comes to children, in addition to growing its footprint nationally and overseas. Whether it’s throwing free pizza parties for children with disabilities or raising funds for families affected by pediatric cancer, Happy Joe’s has been quietly demonstrating that meaningful service is baked into its identity.
Tom Sacco, Happy Joe’s current president, CEO and chief happiness officer, now carries on a storied tradition that began more than 50 years ago with founder Joe Whitty, who also founded the Happy Joe’s Kids Foundation.
“Tom has always believed that leadership means lifting others up, especially when no one’s watching,” said Kat Davidson, a longtime team member and Happy Joe’s current vice president of franchise development. “Tom doesn’t do stuff like this for accolades. He does it because it is right.”
Related: A Servant’s Heart: Tom Sacco’s Secrets to Transformational Leadership
One of Happy Joe’s most heartfelt commitments is supporting the Chris Norton Foundation Football Camp, held each summer at the founder’s alma mater in Iowa. The camp offers kids with disabilities the chance to play football, build confidence and connect with peers. And Happy Joe’s always shows up with fresh pizza, a fully stocked food truck and plenty of spirit.
Norton, a former college football player who became paralyzed in a game and went on to become a motivational speaker, started the camp as part of his mission to empower others.
“The first time I saw those kids smiling with pizza in their hands, I knew this wasn’t just about a meal,” Davidson said. “It was about showing up for people who often get overlooked.”
Happy Joe’s is also a partner of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, partnering with the organization to raise funds and awareness in the fight against pediatric cancer. From donation drives to store activations, Happy Joe’s teams and guests come together to make a difference—one cup and one dollar at a time.
Even restaurant leaders in other spaces praise Happy Joe’s give-back initiatives.
“Happy Joe’s shows us what it means to serve people, not just customers,” said Damon Thomas, current senior vice president of operations at Shake Shack. “Tom taught me that when a company truly puts people first over profit, the impact goes far beyond the bottom line.”
In both 2023 and 2024, Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream committed $1 from every Chocolate Chip Cookie Pizza sold to Children of Restaurant Employees (CORE), a nonprofit that helps provide financial relief to food and beverage service workers with children when they face life-altering circumstances. Whether it’s a medical diagnosis, injury, natural disaster or unexpected loss, CORE ensures that families have support when they need it most—covering everything from rent and utility bills to medical expenses and childcare.
It’s all part of Sacco’s personal commitment to “leading with a servant’s heart.” After decades in leadership roles at brands like Bonanza Steakhouse, Ponderosa Steakhouse and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Sacco was happily retired when Dynamic Restaurant Holdings, which owns Happy Joe’s, lured him back to the restaurant industry in 2021.
Still an unstoppable behind-the-scenes force in his early 70s, Sacco engineered a swift and decisive turnaround at Happy Joe’s and spearheaded new growth, striking groundbreaking franchise deals and even expanding the brand into Egypt.
But Sacco also takes special delight in his company’s annual Christmas parties for children with special needs and their families. “I can’t express how meaningful these things are,” he told PMQ Pizza earlier this year, “because you act as the servant instead of the big boss.”
He added, “Everything I do is about, ‘How do I improve the bottom line? How do I grow the business? How do I get a return to the shareholders?’ But I love getting up every day. I can’t wait to go to work, because…if you do these little things—one birthday party, one person you get into drug rehab—one by one, they don’t really change the world. But when you add them all up, it makes a huge difference.”
