Helping charity with wood-fired pizza

A couple weeks ago I stopped by the Berne church where my daughter and I enjoyed wood-fired pizza. Not only did we get a slice of yummy meat lover’s pizza, but we also got a slice of Swiss heritage. 
What impressed me the most about the pizza event that attracts thousands to rural Dodge County each Wednesday night throughout the summer is what happens to the proceeds. Folks shell out $22 for each pizza, and the profit gets tossed back into communities across the area. 
The Zwingli United Church of Christ, hosts of the wood-fired pizza celebration, has donated “tens of thousands of dollars” to various non-profit groups, coordinator Angela Organ said. The tiny Berne church is in its fifth season of hosting the pizza events.
Organ said 100 percent of the money goes to the church and non-profit charities. “We have 12 charities every year and they each receive a portion of the proceeds,” she said. 
Some of the charities that have benefited include West Concord Cardinal Club, Oliver Fund, food shelves in Dodge, Steele and Olmsted counties, Dodge County Relay for Life, Next Chapter Ministries, West Concord Fire, Baja Mexico Mission Trip and Faith in Action of Dodge County. 
Members of the Berne church vote each year as to where they would like to see the pizza profits go. The church is small with only about 100 members, but it has seen some new faces in recent years. “We’ve seen many new members because of their experience with pizza,” Organ said.
The pizza festival is an offshoot of Swissfest, which had been going for 58 years before declining attendance brought an end to it. 
Organ didn’t waste time in trying to get something going again.
“We wanted to do something to rejuvenate the activities out here,” she said. She proposed the idea of pizza to the church council, which gave her the green light to move forward.
Organ admits she was a little taken back by the response they received after cancelling Swissfest. “We didn’t expect the crowds out here,” she said, noting 800 to 2,000 people show up each week.
She said, “It amazes us that we have people come every week,” Organ said. “People are so excited to have it come back. This is their thing. It’s a way to get outside.”
The event started with six pizza nights and now has grown to 14 weeks. 
Pizza at Berne continues for the next 10 Wednesdays with Aug. 31 being the last night of the summer series. Besides pizza, there is also great entertainment from across southeastern Minnesota performing each week. 
It may not be the Swiss Alps, but it’s pizza, camaraderie and entertainment with a twist of Swiss heritage thrown into the mix. 
If you’re looking for some great mid-week entertainment and a way to help area charities at the same time, I’d encourage you to go in hot pursuit of some wood-fired pizza at Berne.