Having a rough week? Get ready for some serious warm fuzzies to cure your blues, courtesy of the big hearts of team members at three Pizza Hut restaurants in Louisiana.

It all started with Nathan Bruce, RGM at the Pizza Hut restaurant in Thibodaux, Louisiana and one of the friendliest guys around. He struck up a conversation with a woman visiting Pizza Hut who was wearing a Relay for Life t-shirt. After hearing more about the organization, which raises money to fight against cancer, he decided to get involved. As Nathan puts it, cancer is something nearly everyone is affected by at some point, whether personally beating the disease, or knowing a friend, coworker, or family member who’s had their own battle: the American Cancer Society estimates that in the US, the lifetime risk of developing cancer is slightly less than 1 in 2 for men, and a little more than 1 in 3 for women.

So, Nathan rallied team members at three different restaurants in southern Louisiana— Matthews, Cut Off, and Thibodaux—to hold a series of fundraisers to benefit the American Cancer Society and for Relay for Life. Starting in early February, the team members have raised a total of more than $1700 for Relay for Life of Lafourche!

There are twenty Relay for Life events going on in southern Louisiana, two of which are taking place in Lafourche Parish this spring, and the teams will be on site at each one, with a tent, pizzas, and an ongoing donation raffle in all three restaurants with a $25 gift card giveaways to be announced the nights of the Relay. At the Thibodaux Relay for Life event, Nathan and his team will be handing over a giant check, the result of the generosity of Pizza Hut customers and team members.

If this were the first time a t-shirt had sparked such a level of generosity from the Pizza Hut team, it would still be a remarkable story. But, it’s not: Nathan had a similar experience with a guest wearing a Habitat for Humanity t-shirt in February. Habitat for Humanity sends volunteers around the world to build and renovate houses for the elderly or other families in need. College students trickled down from the University of Guelph, Western Ontario, University of Florida, Susquehanna University, University of Illinois Urbana, and Northwestern University throughout February and March with their Habitat teams. Nathan and the other SouLo restaurants were waiting for them with free pizzas and lots of love from the Pizza Hut family.

When we say Pizza Hut is like a big family, the three stores Cut Off, Matthews, and Thibodaux say it like they mean it. Cheers to the teams down in SouLo, and thanks for all that you do to Deliver Hope!