ANN ARBOR—Domino’s Pizza Inc. has announced a commitment with its franchisees to raise $100 million over the next 10 years for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the largest financial commitment in the history of St. Jude.
In honor of the historic pledge, St. Jude will name its newest housing center The Domino’s Village, which will be located on the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital campus. The housing center will feature 140 fully-furnished apartments, with one, two, or three bedrooms, designed to accommodate different lengths of stay and family sizes. Construction planning for the new building is under way, with an anticipated opening in the spring of 2023.
Domino’s, with the support of its franchisees, named St. Jude its national charity partner in 2004. Since then, Domino’s and its franchisees have raised more than $68 million for the kids of St. Jude, primarily through the annual St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign. Customers also can round up their order total and donate the change to the kids throughout the year on dominos.com.
“St. Jude and its Thanks and Giving campaign have become part of the Domino’s culture, and we are proud to commit to the organization for the long term,” said Ritch Allison, Domino’s CEO. “Everyone at Domino’s is honored to have the opportunity to bring to life a building that will offer community, comfort and care to patient families at St. Jude. We hope it stands as a physical representation and reminder to all on the St. Jude campus that Domino’s and customers of the brand care, and we will continue to support them.”
The Domino’s Village, pictured above, will offer patients and families convenient access to treatment on campus. Similar to other St. Jude housing facilities, The Domino’s Village will be a home away from home for patient families, offering a peaceful respite with living, dining and play spaces for patient family residents to enjoy.
“Domino’s, in partnership with its employees, franchisees and customers, is the model of the power of corporate purpose to change the world, and has been since 2004,” said Richard C. Shadyac Jr., president and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “This new, generous gift is the largest commitment in the history of our organization, and every Domino’s employee, franchisee and customer should be proud to be part of this selfless act of making the world a better, more compassionate place. The Domino’s Village will provide a home-away-from-home for the thousands of kids and families who come to St. Jude from around the world. They will forever be transformed by the generosity of Domino’s in their greatest time of need.?
St. Jude treats children with cancer, blood disorders and related life-threatening diseases. St. Jude treats about 8,500 patients each year, from the United States and around the world. In addition to housing and food, St. Jude offers an on-site school and other services for patients and their families. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, because they believe all a parent should have to worry about is helping their child live. St. Jude is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. The St. Jude organization is based in Memphis, Tenn. More at stjude.org.
Founded in 1960, Domino’s Pizza is the largest pizza company in the world based on retail sales. It has more than 17,100 stores with global retail sales of more than $14.3 billion in 2019, with more than $7 billion in the U.S. and nearly $7.3 billion internationally. More than half of its global retail sales occur through digital channels. In June 2019, through a partnership with Nuro, Domino’s furthered its exploration and testing of autonomous pizza delivery. In late 2019, Domino’s opened the Domino’s Innovation Garage adjacent to its headquarters in Ann Arbor, to fuel continued technology and operational innovation, while also launching its GPS technology, allowing customers to follow the progress of the delivery driver from store to doorstep. In mid-2020, Domino’s launched a new way to order contactless carryout nationwide via Domino’s Carside Delivery, which customers can choose when placing a prepaid online order. More at www.dominos.com.