Your Pie Builds on Momentum from Your Fest in Athens, Georgia

In 2015, an estimated 13.1 million children lived in food-insecure households, according to Feeding America. This is a number that didn’t sit well with Your Pie’s Founder, Drew French. So instead of letting that statistic grow, French decided to get involved and fight back.

Your Pie is one of the world’s originators in the down-the-line customized pizza category. The brand is built on one simple mission: Do every small thing with greatness. It is with this desire to do great things that French established a mission to end childhood hunger, and he came up with the idea to bring the entire community together for this important cause. This eventually inspired the idea of Your Fest.

“We wanted to create an event that incorporated all of the things that Your Pie is while also raising awareness outside of the four walls of our restaurants,” said French. “This event wasn’t just for us, it is to help our local charity in their efforts to end childhood hunger.”

On August 20^th, the first-ever Your Fest was held in Athens, Georgia. The fest featured six bands and local craft beer, including Terrapin Brewery. Local restaurants sent their best chefs to compete in a craft pie cook off, cooking for the cause of childhood hunger or a charity of their choice. The event featured a photo booth and was scattered with kid games, making the first debut a tremendous success.

“We are a food company, but we realize that in Athens and across the country, there are a lot of children that are hungry,” said French. “They don’t always have a great answer for where their next meal is coming from. That is something we grew passionate about and wanted to help with in the community, in the country and across the world.”

Your Pie’s community involvement to end childhood hunger reaches beyond Your Fest. In the summer months when school is not in session, many of the local students don’t get the meals they can count on in school. With a partnership through Action Ministries’ Smart Lunch, Smart Kids, Your Pie has been able to help make sure local children have an easier time finding a meal when school is out. The brand helped donate around 4,000 pizzas during the summer.

“Thousands of kids lose their only meal during the summer months. By teaming up with Smart Lunch, Smart Kids, we were teaming up with a charity that will always make a difference in these kids’ lives,” said French. “By bringing hundreds of community members together for the same cause, we were able to raise a lot of awareness.”

After an extremely successful Your Fest debut, French hopes to build off the positive momentum and make the fest an annual staple in the community. The fight against childhood hunger will remain a mission in each of Your Pie’s communities.