If there’s one thing that Brea, California, prides itself on, it’s having a strong sense of community. Brea homeowners are active in their area’s social scene and take pride in helping out those in their community who happen to be less fortunate.
But while this goodwill exists within Brea’s homeowner community in terms of yearly charitable donations, it also exists within Brea’s culinary community. Co-owner and operator of the RedBrick Pizza Café in Brea, Michael Bitola, is living proof of just how committed those in the Brea food scene are to area families in need.
Bitola became inspired to help the community through his restaurant when he spoke with Barbara Wartman of the Second Harvest Food Bank. Wartman told him that while Second Harvest was able to feed up to 240,000 needy individuals in Orange County every month, there were actually 400,000 who needed assistance.
This might come as a surprise to those who know how luxuriant and affluent much of Orange County is, but the reality is that there are 160,000 individuals who were not getting proper meals, and Bitola decided that he would take matters into his own hands when it came to helping out the needy in Brea.
“A lot of companies are involved in some kind of buy one, give one away program. TOMS shoes, for instance, donates a pair of shoes each time a customer purchases a pair,” Bitola said. “I decided to implement the same kind of program at our Brea RedBrick Pizza Café location.”
Brea homeowners impacting the local food culture
With RedBrick’s One for One program, all meals bought at the restaurant on Mondays are matched in value by RedBrick, which then creates vouchers that are given to Second Harvest.
And Bitola says the mission isn’t just about food donation, it’s about giving those in need a warm experience.
“I wanted to give local families the opportunity to get back out into the community and experience a more typical social setting while dining,” he said.
Bitola encourages other local business owners to follow his model, and Brea homeowners can take pride in efforts like these that shine a bright light on their community.
To hear more about why Brea is such a great place to call home, please contact me. I’m a local agent with extensive knowledge of Brea real estate.
