A Glendale teen hopes his latest idea will transform countless games of Skee-Ball and Mortal Kombat into charitable gifts.



Troy's Ticket Boxes

While eating at Peter Piper Pizza earlier in the year, Troy Tauscher, 14, realized he no longer had any need for the tickets that came with the games.

Tauscher often would give them away to other kids but he wondered if there weren't others who felt the same way. What if there was a way to collect everyone's unwanted tickets and redeem them for toys for kids who really needed them?

And so the spark for Troy's Ticket Boxes was born, the idea of donating tickets that would be used to purchase toys for children in need, including those in area hospitals.

He tested the waters by writing to the company.

"I have been a frequent and loyal customer of Peter Piper for as long as I can remember. I recently thought of a great idea that I would like to propose to you." the letter read.

Going along with the idea was a "no-brainer," said Janeth Moore, the general manager at the Peter Piper Pizza in Arrowhead at 75th Avenue and Bell Road, where the Tauschers regularly go. Her own daughter had recently had to go to the hospital, and Moore knew firsthand how much joy a small gift could bring to a child in the hospital.

Troy's mother said they don't have a shred of entrepreneurship in their history, but she eagerly supported her son's idea. On another trip to Peter Piper Pizza, they stood next to the ticket counter to survey parents and kids. One parent liked the idea so much that he handed them nearly 300 tickets on the spot - their first donation.

"Every parent we've talked to is like, 'You don't know how many times we've stood there waiting for our kids to spend the five extra tickets,' " Tracy Tauscher said. "Now there's a place to put them. Everybody wins."

Peter Piper Pizza agreed to start by allowing ticket donation boxes in three stores, and upping the purchasing value of each donated ticket from 1 cent to 3 cents.

On Nov. 11, Troy made his first donation: $3,000 worth of toys to Phoenix Children's Hospital. The mountain of boxes was taller than he was.

"Their eyes just light up," said hospital spokesman Will Mandeville, of distributing a toy to a child in the hospital.

Last week, Peter Piper Pizza rolled out the boxes in seven Valley locations.

Troy said he hopes the movement will go nationwide "as long as it takes to eventually spread it out."