Commentary: Joe Corbi's pizza co. helps charities raise money

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), May 23, 2003 by Neil R.G. Young

So what does a platoon of tank crewmen crouched around a 10-inch TV set watching a video on a cold starlit night in the Iraqi desert have to do with a family pizza recipe?

Well, it has a lot to do with the generous spirit of the management and employees of Joe Corbi's, a 20-year old Baltimore firm that started out as a small pizza dough business, and is now growing into a national fundraising company.

The members of the tank platoon fighting their way to Baghdad had been "adopted" by Joe Corbi's owners and its 240 employees.

"When my wife, Laureen found out that we could adopt a platoon of soldiers in Iraq," says Rocco Violi, 47, president of the company and Joe Corbi's nephew, "our employees jumped on the idea.

"The soldiers -- one was from Baltimore --- started mailing us wish lists, and the employees started buying and collecting things that we shipped off. The TV-DVD player and the videos were my wife's idea."

"My dad started the company in 1983 with his sister, Joan Bell and two employees," explains Victor Corbi, 29, Joe's son who is working his way through management.

"My grandfather had started a pizza crust business in the 1950s, but my dad had a lot of ideas about different pizza products, and how to market them. So he started his own company."

This was more than a son striking out on his own. Joe had just been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

Sadly, many people who are diagnosed with MS consider it a death sentence and give up, but not Joe.

His vision for the business was more than just selling pizzas from a shop. Instead, he developed a special recipe for pizza dough, and using that along with the special pizza sauce developed by him and his mother, he began selling pizzas at events such as fairs and carnivals.

He also was thinking about using pizza kits for fund raising. However, it wasn't until a lady from a Drum & Bugle Corps asked Joe if she could buy his pizza kits as a fundraiser that the idea fully crystallized in his mind.

Succession

Joe Corbi's quickly grew as Joe took his idea to clubs, churches, civic organizations, and schools. Joe was determined to see his business continue to succeed, but the ravages of MS were beginning to take his toll.

He needed a successor to carry on the vision, but Victor was only 19 years old. So he called on his nephew, Rocco Violi, a successful general manager with another company, to help him and train Victor.

The company continued to grow and prosper, even as Joe Corbi's health and strength failed. The end saw Joe a quadriplegic, unable to move, but always with a smile.

"Joe taught us a lot about courage," says Rocco. "He knew he was slipping, but right up to the end we were always talking about the business.

"One day I came into town and Joe said to me, 'Stick around with me today, would you?' That's when I knew the end was near."

"Dad hung in there long enough to see me get married," recalls Victor. "Soon after that, though, he died. That was 1999."

Today, Joe Corbi's is helping charitable organizations; churches, civic clubs, and schools raise money by selling its wide variety of Joe Corbi's Original Pizza Kits, and a new line of Joe Corbi's Joe Jrs. There are dinner pizzas, breakfast pizzas, dessert pizzas, and bread kits. The research staff is always looking for new products.

"Kids love colorful things," explains Rocco, smiling. "Joe Corbi's has teamed up with Crayola as a strategic partner to market a line of Joe Corbi's Colored Pizza Kits that we sell along with a Crayola activity book. You want green pizza? Blue pizza? The kids love it! We have a patent pending for this product. Kids also love our colorful line of Grandma's Cookie Dough!"

Not every new development has been a success. Joe Corbi's has had a few flops.

"A few years ago we came up with a pasta kit that we thought would really work," explains Victor. "It didn't, but it had great shelf life."

"We had pasta sitting around on the shelves for months," laughs Rocco. "But you know, if we can get the formula down right, we might just bring it back!"

Helping people raise money for important projects has to bring out the generous spirit in anybody, and it is no exception for Rocco, Victor, and the rest of the 240 employees at the company's four locations.

Rocco sighed as he explained how important the fund raising programs are, especially to small parochial schools, where sometimes the nuns have to raise the money just to pay teachers' salaries.

Rocco and Victor know that they are on an important mission: Sell a good product to help others raise money for their mission.

Their motto says it all. "We make the dough, you make the money!"

Joe Corbi's has a definite commitment to the people it serves.

"We're working with volunteers under lots of stress," explains Rocco, "and mistakes happen. We make sure the right amount of product gets there. Volunteers are accountable to lots of other folks, and we're accountable to them.