Pizza Mania raises $4,000

A small mountain of pizza rested on a paper plate with five slices piled on top of each other and three breadsticks surrounding the slices. The girl carrying this feast seemed unaware of it, as she was surrounded by peers with similar dishes Friday at IU’s second annual Pizza Mania. \nAt the event, 12 pizza restaurants went head-to-head in a competition organized by IU students to raise money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a nonprofit organization that supports families from the armed forces. Volunteers handed out unlimited pizza in Dunn Meadow to a hungry crowd of more than 500 people. \n“I just saw a bunch of cars bringing pizza and I was like, ‘Whoa,’” said sophomore Monica Foxx. “I can never eat a whole pizza by myself. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can eat all of this pizza by myself.’”\nPizza Mania started more than four years ago. The organization originally began as a marketing class project at Indian Hill High School in Cincinnati. \nSophomore Christina Howell said she helped bring the tradition to IU. Last year, Pizza Mania raised more than $3,000 and its organizers are hoping to expand each year, Howell said. This year, Pizza Mania reached a new standard by raising about $4,000.\n“It was something that started at our high school, but we wanted to do something big on a college campus, so we just became a student organization.” said junior Keith Page.\nAll of the restaurants donated pizzas, which combined to make a grand total of 300 large pizzas and 1,000 breadsticks. The Intrepid Fallen Soldier Fund has raised about $60 million for veterans and military personnel since it started in 2000, according to its Web site. The recent focus for fundraising is troops who return from Afghanistan and Iraq who have (post–traumatic stress disorder.) \nThe winner in the “Best Overall” category was Mother Bear’s Pizza. Local pizza restaurants such as Uncle D’s New York Pizza and Bucceto’s Smiling Teeth won “Best Cheese” and “Best Specialty,” respectively.\nOther pizza restaurants IU students may be less familiar with, such as Max’s Place, Swing-In Pizza and Monroe County Pizza Department, competed alongside major players. Trish McFarland, owner of Monroe County Pizza Department, which won last year’s “Best Specialty Pizza” award, expressed her dismay with being unknown to many college students.\n“You guys don’t have too many hometown pizza places,” McFarland said. “Other than pizzerias, there’s not a whole lot.”\nTwo acts, True Story and Jonah Malarsky, rocked the stage at Dunn Meadow to give their support for the event. \n“I had a heck of a time,” Malarsky said. “Dunn Meadow is one of my favorite places to perform, and the weather is beautiful. It was too good to pass up.”