Marco’s Pizza touts program to raise money for schools

Toledo-based Marco’s Pizza announced a fund-raising program where schools could be in line to win $10,000 and a pizza party.

Marco’s Pizza is rolling out a school fund-raising program in northern Ohio that it says is a pilot for what could be done across its entire company footprint.

The Online School Challenge lets customers who order on the Marco's Web site choose their local school when placing their order. The designated school gets “pizza points” for each order. The promotion starts Sept. 1 and runs through the end of April.

In the Toledo area, the program is open to public and private schools in Lucas, Wood, Ottawa, and Fulton counties. Schools in 11 northeastern Ohio counties also are eligible to participate.

Marco's will tally the points at the end of each month for both regions and award the top-scoring school $500. At the end of the year, the school with the most points in each region will win $10,000 and a pizza party. The second-place school gets $2,500, while third place gets $1,500. The top six schools all receive a cash award.

The company says the promotion is a way to draw the community together in a way that benefits everyone. Of course, it also could help the company sell more pizzas.

Marco's said the points awarded to each school will be weighed against the number of students at each school, producing a more level playing field for schools of all different sizes.

Marco's is based in Toledo. At the beginning of the year, the company said it had 320 stores in 26 states, with plans to open more than 100 new stores in 2013. The company has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing franchises in the United States.

Contact Tyrel Linkhorn at tlinkhorn@theblade.com or 419-724-6134.