John and Lisa Skopick didn’t have “pizza parlor owners” on their vision board. But here they are, three years into ownership of Pizza Pete’s, a popular pie place in the southern Chicago burbs which they bought in 2020 to help their daughter, Danielle. In the audio clip below, John and Lisa tell how their daughter was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at age two and was given less than a five percent chance of having a meaningful life. So, after she defied the odds and graduated high school, Mom and Dad made a plan. To help her find that meaningful life, and help her find her way in the work world, they bought the iconic Pizza Pete’s in Orland Park in 2020, then added a location in Frankfort. That’s where Danielle takes phone orders and is the person out front every day. Each Tuesday, the Frankfort store has “Pizza With a Purpose Day” where they partner with a local charity, to whom the Skopicks donate a large portion of the day’s take. The Orland Park store does Pizza With a Purpose on Wednesdays and on 10/3, Scout Troop 385 from Tinley Park will be the partner. In Frankfort, the partner on 9/26 and 10/3 is Best Buddies; on 10/10, the Tinley Park Co-Ed Scout troop; on 10/17, the Cerebral Palsy Foundation in Tinley Park; and 10/31, Maddog Strong.

(Thank you to Erin McElroy and Audrey Haynes at WGN-TV for sharing this story.)