For Lisa Meyers, raising money for charity was something she did growing up.

“I was raised that way, that when you have the means to support something good, you always should,” she said. “Growing up my mom would always have me selling calendars or baked goods for one organization or another.”

So it wasn’t out of character for Meyer to announce a $3,000 donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation at Pita Pit’s annual conference.

Meyers owns the Oak Harbor Pita Pit franchise.

It was Meyers’ moving announcement detailing the significance of the donation, however, that led her fellow franchisees to a spontaneous movement to raise $23,000 for Make-a-Wish.

“We were overwhelmed by the response of our franchises to Lisa’s story, and her own generosity to donate $3,000 of her own money,” said Patrick O’Dell, Pita Pit’s director of marketing.

It was when Meyers took the stage at the conference to accept the Boost of the Year award from Pita Pit that she shared the story of her late son, Parker.

More than 16 years ago, Parker was diagnosed as an infant with a rare disease affecting bone density called osteopetrosis. The deadly disease afflicts between eight and 40 babies in the United States each year. It causes bone thickening and loss of nerve function in the skull that can lead to blindness, nerve paralysis and deafness.

Meyers and former husband Ed Flitcroft discovered that their son was completely blind as a result when he was 10 months old. Doctors told them that Parker needed a bone marrow transplant to save his life.

To raise money for the transplant, Meyers and her family made and sold T-shirts bearing a picture that Parker painted as an infant; words underneath the painting said, “Through the eyes of the blind child.”

Parker got his transplant. Unfortunately, Meyers said, it did not take. And that’s when the Make-A-Wish foundation stepped in to send the family on a trip to Disneyland.

“Being at the hospital for so long, we weren’t able to take Parker out very much because he could get sick which would make things worse,” Meyers said. “So for this trip, it was going to give us that chance to get out.”

Sadly, however, Parker passed away on Mother’s Day in 2000, before they were able to take him to Disneyland. He was just 15 months old.

“We were going to take him on all of the rides that make a lot of noise but he didn’t make it so … as a family we went on this trip and wore our T-shirts in memory of him,” she said.

“It was a bitter sweet thing.”

For Meyers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation provided Parker and her family a prospect of normalcy that they could not attain while in the hospital. This is what makes the foundation great and a worthy cause, according to Meyers.

And to see so many franchise owners from across the nation share that sentiment was overwhelming for Meyers.

“It was an emotional time for me,” Meyers said. “It showed me how people could be passionate about a cause because of someone else’s loss.

“It was very moving to see so many people respond like that, I wouldn’t have thought something like that could happen.”

The response was fairly immediate, said Meyers. Pita Pit franchise owners from across the nation began raising their hands during her speech to pledge their own donations. So many, in fact, that Meyers said the conference was interrupted to record every pledge.

In all, the $23,000 was raised in only 30 minutes.

“We are thrilled that our franchisees not only embody Pita Pit’s mission through their businesses, but that they live these values as individuals in their community as well,” O’Dell said of the donations.

“Seeing the Pita Pit family come together to support the Foundation was truly a special moment.”

According to O’Dell, Meyers was given the Boost of the Year award for improving her location’s performance and for her commitment to not only improving sales but customer service as well.

Meyers opened the Oak Harbor location eight years ago and worked alongside several of her children to adapt the business to the area. Among those adaptations, Meyers said, was shifting her hours of operation to better serve the community.

While most Pita Pits stay open until 2 a.m. to serve people leaving the bars, Meyers said she found it was best to close early and focus on providing more meal options.

“I like Pita Pit because there’s room for creativity,” she said. “I get to make my own recipes and really consider who it is I’m serving and what they want.”

As Meyers continues to hold her memories of her son close, she said improving the local Pita Pit is her way of moving forward and creating something new.

“It’s not work for me, because I really do enjoy this, serving people,” she said.