Papa John’s Pizza in Centerville, Ohio, hosted a parking lot celebration to raise donations and community awareness for Georgia-based charity HeroBox.org. HeroBox founder Ryan Housley started the charity in May, 2008, to provide stateside families a convenient means to “adopt” a deployed soldier. Adopted soldiers receive care packages called HeroBoxes from their contributing sponsors in the U.S.

Papa John’s General Manager Jason Hyman, PJOHIO’s Director of Marketing Sarah Baker and HeroBox Executive Director Ryan Housley invited families to join them for a day of fun and support for the troops at the Papa John’s restaurant at 491 Miamisburgh- Centerville rd in Centerville, Oh. The Centerville Papa John’s, provided a venue to celebrate not only armed service members, but civilian service personnel as well.
Joining in on the day were Riverside Mayor Bill Floute, Dayton Mayor Gary Leitzell, Congressman Steve Austria’s represenitive Branden Meyer, Congressman John Boehner’s Erin Clemons, Senator Jerrod Brown’s Represenitive Paul Bradley and Chief Master Sergeant John L. Hoffman Jr., the Command Chief of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson. Some of the attractions at the event included an EMS vehicle and a fire truck displayed by the Washintontownship Fire Department and  Papa John’s mascot Mr. Slice, McGruff the Crime Dog and the Cincinnati Reds’ mascot Mr. Redlegs were all on hand to entertain the crowd.

During the event all 28 Dayton area Papa John’s served as the drop-off location for contributions for the Herobox care packages. Throughout the day donations were collected and Papa John’s donated a portion of their pizza sales that raised more than $1,000 for HeroBox.org and we also packed 50+ boxes that will be sent to the brave Men and Women overseas.

 In recognition of their outstanding community service, Papa John’s and HeroBox received proclamations from Governor Ted Strickland, Lt Gov. Lee Fisher, Mayor of Dayton Gary Leitzell, Senator Brown, Congressman Austria, Congressman Boehner, A Personal letter from the Chief Master Sergeant Thanking us for what we are doing for our soldiers and Mr. Arnold Palmer the golfer sent us a letter thanking us for our efforts in helping the troops!

General Manager Jason Hyman and PJOHIO have also been nominated for the 2010 MLB Allstars among us contest through People Magazine and MLB Allstar game for there efforts with the military.

“It was a great day for Papa Johns and Herobox.org. A wide variety of people now know about Papa Johns involvment with Herobox and know who Herobox is now. I hope the word spreads. This is a great outlet for those who can’t just walkup and say thank you to a soldier or are shy and can’t approach them. This is a great way to show that you care. At Papa Johns we have a Saying,(PAPA)  People Are Priority Always and we live up to that everyday” said Papa John’s Manager Jason Hyman. Veteran David Moore shared his story and gratitude for bringing awareness to a great cause.

Ryan from Herobox was Amazed with what PJOHIO, The Frandelli Group and the city of Dayton has done with Herobox! Director of Operations for PJOHIO Doug Hoffman ” We should count our blessings and reach out to all the men and women that have helped in giving and defending our freedom   Herobox.org is a huge start.”