GT Pie BLog

Grand Traverse Pie Company (GT Pie) will celebrate the delicious comforts of PIE during National Pie Day on Thursday, January 23, 2014. National Pie Day was created by the American Pie Council. As part of our American heritage, this day is a perfect opportunity to pass on the comforts of pie and celebrate one of America’s favorite foods – Pie. To celebrate the Power of Pie in our Portage Community GT Pie is teaming up with Allegra Print and Imaging of Portage to honor nonprofits in the community.

Grand Traverse Pie Company will be serving up a FREE SLICE of Michigan fruit pie with any purchase all day on ‘Pie Day.’ The ceremony for the 2014 FootPRINT awards will be held at the new GT Pie Portage Shop location on 5303 S. Westnedge in Portage at 2:00 on January 23rd, National Pie Day. Recipients will be honored with Pie and the FootPRINT award certificate.

Brian Kaufman, President of Allegra in Portage announced the recipients of this year’s Allegra FootPRINT Fund®, which helps nonprofit organizations “leave a footprint” in the community by awarding print services for promotional and informational materials. With this year’s award recipients, over 150 non-profit organizations have received over $275,000 in total donations throughout the last eleven years. Overall, there were 30 organizations that received grants for 2014 ranging from $500 to $1000 each.

The Allegra Print & Imaging FootPRINT Fund® awards $25,000 annually to nonprofit organizations and associations seeking financial assistance for all marketing, operating, and brand management materials. Award recipients are selected by a review panel composed of five community leaders who decided allocation based on how print services will be used to further an organization’s goals. These include service expansion, program enhancement and maximization of existing resources, as well as the organization’s innovation and resourcefulness.

“Allegra – Marketing, Print, & Mail of Portage is proud to be part of a community that has so many fine organizations,” said Brian Kaufman, President. “This year’s winners of the FootPRINT Fund® demonstrate the type of commitment and ingenuity that we are looking for in recipients of this award. We are honored to support them in their local efforts.” The 2014 award recipients are:

Kalamazoo Drop-in Child-Care Center
First Day Shoe Fund
Ministry With Community
Warm Kids Project, Inc
Comstock Community Center
Safe Kids Kalamazoo County
Volunteer Kalamazoo
Parent To Parent
Community Homeworks
Generous Hands, Inc.
Portage Community Center
E.S.C.A.P.E. Inc.
The Arc-Community Advocates
Boy Scouts of America, Southwest Michigan Council
Kalamazoo Deacons Conference
Open Door & Next Door Shelters
Aacorn Farm Inc.
Communities in Schools of Kalamazoo
Lakeside for Children
Urban Alliance
Prevention Works
Kids Connections, INC
Challenger Little League, District 2
South County Community Services
Building Blocks
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services
Disability Network
Douglas Community Association
Aviators

“We are PIE people and we’re proud to serve the delicious comforts of fruit pie for National Pie Day in each of our community Pie Shops. Pie is meant for sharing. Pie connects people. Pie makes people happy. And happy people make the world a better place. That’s why the world needs more pie.” stated Mike Busley, founder of Grand Traverse Pie Company (GTPC). “We honor the efforts of Allegra Print and Imaging who has done so much to impact our Kalamazoo/Portage area. We are proud to add 10% of the proceeds from sales at our Portage Shop location on January 23rd to go to Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiatives (MYOI) in Kalamazoo. MYOI program was created to improve outcomes for youths transitioning from foster care to adulthood. We believe the Power of Pie should be dedicated for our youth to have successful opportunities’ in life.”

The Grand Traverse Pie Company offers 30 varieties of hand-crafted pie. In fact, every GT Pie Company location has on site bakers, delivering the made-from-scratch, just baked taste of pie each and every day. Every pie is made with Michigan fruit and ingredients – all wrapped in its melt-in-your-mouth crust.

Allegra of Portage is a Marketing Service Provider for small and medium sized businesses and organizations. They feature traditional and advanced printing technologies including full-color offset, digital, and inkjet printing, in-house creative graphic design services, web services including SEO & SEM, email marketing services, direct mail and list services, advertising specialty items, large format signs, banners, and specialty graphics, trade show displays and graphics, complete finishing services, and project consulting including marketing analysis and planning.