A local business wants to give some financial comfort to the three long-missing women found alive in Cleveland earlier this month.

Angelo's Pizza in Lakewood will donate 100 percent of its sales today (May 16) to kidnap victims Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight. This includes dine-in, take-out and delivery sales. In addition, Angelo's employees will donate their hourly pay to the survivors.

The promotion was conceived by owner Tom Kess after learning that the Berry family ordered a pizza from his restaurant for a celebratory meal. Kess hopes to raise as much as $25,000, money he plans to split up and personally deliver to the impacted families.

"I expect to sell 400 pizzas an hour," says Kess. "I want to use my shop as a vehicle to raise money."

Kess was out of town when he learned about the escape and rescue, and was especially surprised and touched that one of the Berrys' first meals came from his establishment.

"I was so taken by that, I just wanted to reach out to these girls," he says.

Along with the one-day fundraiser, the effected families will also eat free at Angelo's for life. The father of a teenage daughter himself, Kess aims to send a message to the trio of young women who spent so many years in captivity.

"We're showing them there's people that care," he says. "I couldn't fathom what their families went through. I felt I had to help in any way I could. This is the least I could do."

SOURCE: Tom Kess
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth