GC Pizza Cancer Fundraiser Nets Some Serious Dough

Garden City Pizza's first "dough raiser" event Saturday netted more than $2,000 for breast cancer research, according to owner Greg Bavaro.

"Not too shabby for our first year," he said.

The Franklin Avenue eatery teamed up with BOSOM BUDDIES for the Oct. 6 event. BOSOM BUDDIES was founded in 2010 by Long Island breast cancer survivor Darcy Novick.

A large portion of Saturday's proceeds are benefiting the American Cancer Society and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.

"Despite the slower than usual holiday weekend, Garden City stepped up, businesses and customers alike," Bavaro told Patch. "From the minute we started setting up people couldn't do enough!"

Local business owners offered gift certificates and products to raffle off. Kudos to Things and Stuff, Bagelman of Garden City, Salon Imperiale, Clean Scene Laundry, June Nail, Madison Taylor Salon, Lacrosse Unlimited, Once Upon a Dish, La Nonna Bella, Serenity Spa NY and Hengstenberg Florists, just to name a few.

Bavaro said customers bought raffle tickets, shirts, bracelets, even socks, and threw their change in the "pot." Ten cents of every dollar spent Oct. 6 at Garden City Pizza went to the cause.

Garden City Pizza will keep on giving throughout October, making a donation for each new Facebook friend gained while Novick will be collecting all her friends' and followers' receipts for the remainder of the month so Garden City Pizza can make one more donation based on those sales.

For anyone interested in making an additional donation, Bavaro is selling shirts at the store and keeping a pink ribbon jar on the counter throughout the month.