Steve Renke took his own life in 2018 after silently struggling against depression. His family soon started an 501c3 nonprofit called “The Pizza Project.”

The name is a tribute to Demarest Pizza, their family-owned pizzeria that Steve founded when he was 18. His daughter, Braden, later took this organization to her college, but it as well as the nonprofit, is no longer active because she joined the military.

Coming to Quinnipiac, Riley Renke ’27, wanted to make a difference in his community. He decided to revamp his sister’s old organization and start it on Quinnipiac campuses.

Renke aims to destigmatize the view of mental health being a sore subject and believes that everyone deserves to be allowed to open up.

“Everybody has issues, we all struggle and it’s important to bring light to that. People don’t want to have the hard conversations about their mental health, especially men,” said Riley Renke.

The club has already had a couple of meetings, but is always welcoming new members.

The Pizza Project invites guest speakers to talk about how they view mental health and what they do to improve their own. The most recent speaker, Tom Ellet, chief experience officer at Quinnipiac, focused on how his biggest asset to improving his mental health is surrounding himself with the right environment.

“The thing I do to improve my mental health, is cultivate a wide and deep set of friends who inspire me to be better,” Ellett said.

The club is hosting their first event, a Spikeball tournament, on Friday, May 2 on the Bobcat Way Lawn at noon. It is open to all Quinnipiac students.

Quinnipiac offers free counseling services to all students. Learn more about counseling and mental health services.