'It's The Greatest Day': Big Bill's NY Pizza Donates Proceeds To Cancer Research

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - Big Bill's Pizza gave back on Tuesday to remember those lost in the Sept. 11th terror attacks. The New York pizzeria started the 9/11 Day of Giving after the tragic events in 2001.

Every year, guests make donations in exchange for their food and drinks. Last year, customers donated five times what their food actually cost.

"Giving people, gracious people. To me, it's the greatest day of the year even though it's a tragic what happened," said Bill Ficke.

The staff also donates their salary, time and tips for the day.

The proceeds go to the nonprofit JoAnn B. Ficke Cancer Foundation which Ficke and his son Dan Ficke founded in 2009 in honor of their wife and mother JoAnn. She passed away in 2007.

For the last 10 years, the JoAnn B. Ficke Cancer Foundation has distributed more than $600,000 to organizations dedicated to cancer research and supporting cancer victims and their families in the Denver Metro area.