To celebrate its 75th anniversary and National Detroit-Style Pizza Day on June 23, Buddy’s Pizza, creator of the Original Detroit-Style Pizza and founder of the national day, is partnering with pizzerias around the U.S. to give back to their communities. Each participating Detroit-Style pizzeria from around the country is donating a portion of sales on June 23 to a local organization whose mission is to fight hunger and/or homelessness.

“This year, we’re celebrating not only 75 years since creating Detroit-Style Pizza, but also the immense growth of the style in recent years,” says Wes Pikula, chief brand officer of Buddy’s Pizza. “A style that was once regional and started out of a single location in the Motor City in 1946 is now in high demand across the country. Buddy’s has been giving back to the communities we serve for decades, and we want to encourage other Detroit-Style Pizza restaurants to make community giving part of their mission, too. We’re proud to join forces with these other pizzerias to collectively help people in need.”

Buddy’s will donate $1 from every pizza sold at all 19 locations on June 23 to three Michigan nonprofit partners fighting hunger and homelessness: Community Housing Network in metro Detroit, Haven House in mid-Michigan and Housing Resources Inc. in western Michigan.

Participating companies from across the nation include:

• Dough Town in New Orleans will donate 10 percent of sales to Hotel Hope.
• DTown Pizzeria in Los Angeles will donate 10 percent of pizza sales to No Kid Hungry.
• Fat Chris’s Pizza and Such in Chicago will donate 15 percent of sales to Lakeview Food Pantry.
• Square Pie Guys in San Francisco will donate 5 percent of sales to Food Shift.
• Square Pizza in San Diego will donate 10 percent of sales to Feeding San Diego.
• Blue Pan Pizza in Denver, CO will be donating $1 of every pizza sold on June 23 to Food Bank of the Rockies

June 23 is also known as Buddy’s Pizza Day in Detroit, which was recognized by former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Detroit City Council to credit Buddy’s Pizza for putting Detroit on the map and showcasing the city’s innovation. The new national day allows Detroit-Style pizzerias around the nation to honor the history, the style and the roots of where it began, all for a good cause.

Buddy’s Pizza opened in 1946 at the corner of Six Mile and Conant in Detroit, previously a speakeasy called Buddy’s Rendezvous. Using a bit of ingenuity and square blue steel pans intended to hold nuts and bolts at local automotive plants, Gus Guerra, along with friend and employee Concetta “Connie” Piccinato, created the first Detroit-Style Pizza – a square-shaped pie that was the first of its kind in a world of round pizza.