As a kid, Bill Parris and his family had to visit a food pantry just to have enough to eat.
Parris, who now owns Domino’s Pizza franchises in Bradford and Olean, N.Y., gives back to the community by helping a local food pantry and other charitable causes.
At 3 p.m. today, Parris will host a Charity Pizza Eating Contest in Veterans Square on Main Street to benefit one of several charities entered in the contest. The event will follow Parris’ 2:30 p.m. ribbon-cutting event for the Domino’s store grand re-opening at 15 Main St.
During the pizza eating contest several contestants representing charities in the area will see who can eat the most pizza pies in six minutes. The winner will receive a trophy, two large pizzas twice a month for a year, and $250 to donate to the charity he or she represents. Second- and third-place trophies and certificates will also be awarded to the winners. Some of the charities that will be represented at the event include the Friendship Table, Bradford Little League, First Night Bradford, YWCA Bradford, Storm Cheerleaders, Destinations Bradford and the United Way of the Bradford Area, among others.
Parris currently donates 30 pizzas once a month to the Friendship Table to provide a treat to those who visit the East Corydon Street facility.
Barbara Shufran, chairman of the Friendship Table, said Parris’ generous monthly donations of pizzas are appreciated by all at the facility. Shufran said she hopes the pizza-eating representative for the Table will win, as they can always use the money.
In sharing more on his past, Parris said he understands how difficult life can be for working poor families.
“I grew up in a poor family (in Smethport) and we had to eat food from food banks … we were hard-working, but we did what we had to do to get by,” Parris recalled.
He said he was able to attend college to study criminal justice for a short while until his father died, leaving his mother in a bind.
“My mom had always been my big advocate, because my dad died when I was 18,” he said. “I came home to help my mom out and started working at Domino’s (in Bradford) in 1990.”
Later, he was offered a manager’s job at the business, and then became district supervisor for other stores. His break-through came when he opened his own store in 2010 on West State Street in Olean, followed by the opening of his second store in the Foster Township area of Bradford in 2012. He moved the Bradford store to Main Street in April.
“My mom didn’t get to see me buy the Bradford store, but she saw me buy the Olean one and was so proud,” Parris said, while noting his mother died shortly before he opened his store in Bradford.
Parris said he is not ashamed of his past and instead shares it proudly with others.
“We had been in predicaments where it was tough to make ends meet,” he said of his childhood. “We ate government cheese, and did all of that. It taught me how to be a more humble man, and that you have to work hard.”
His past also is inspiring him to help more charities in the area.
“Now, if I have a chance to help less fortunate people, I’m more than happy to,” he said. “It’s just nice to give back to the community.”
