By Lisa Carolin
Jet’s Pizza, located at 506 North Main St. in Chelsea and owned by Jason and Suzei Povlich, has been growing, and so have the owners’ plans for summer concerts and a new home for children in Haiti.
The Povliches run Project 418, the nonprofit that helps impoverished communities develop opportunities and sustainable change. They started the Hope Center in Haiti last year, a home and school for children that now includes 47 kids, ages 4-12.
The couple, who also own three Jet’s Pizza franchises in Ohio, hosted a benefit concert at their Chelsea restaurant last July that featured the band Rusted Root, and raised money for Project 418.
They are going to start a weekly summer concert series on Thursday nights to raise funds for a second children’s home in Haiti.
“We have a lot of experience with music festivals,” said Jason Povlich. “Last summer’s concert inspired us. We had a bunch of beautiful people working with us to bring something beautiful to us.”
The concerts will start at 8:30 p.m. Thursdays following Sounds and Sights and are called The Rumpus Room 2016 Summer Concert Series.
On this past New Year’s Eve, the Povliches opened the rumpus room, a former office, in the same building as the restaurant, which offers more seating, a stage for performers, and the option of room rental, which can accommodate 75 people.
“The word ‘rumpus’ comes from the book “Where the Wild Things Are,” and is meant to be a place for merrymaking, jollification, amusement, cheer, hoopla and shenanigans,” said Suzei Povlich. “People are having a lot of fun with it.”
“Monday night is blues night from 7-10 p.m., Wednesday night is trivia night from 6-10 p.m., Thursday night is open mic night from 7-10 p.m., and we have live music on Saturdays after 8 p.m.,” said Jason Povlich.
Both Jason and Suzei Povlich have made a number of trips to Haiti to visit the Hope Center in Cité Soleil and to develop plans for Hope Center number two, which will be located in Fort Jacques in the mountains.
“It will be 12 miles from Hope Center number one,” said Jason Povlich. “We’ve been working with someone from Fort Jacques for 30 years.”
The existing Hope Center has a staff of 10 people and a good relationship with the community. Suzei visited there last December.
“It was a great trip,” she said. “We provided a swing set, blankets, care bears, a motorcycle and a refrigerator. We are teaching the kids trades like woodworking. Ultimately we want to raise up leaders within these homes who can make a difference from the ground up.”
For more information on Project 418, click here.
