Maple Grove’s Chanticlear Pizza Raises Funds for Injured First Responders

A Maple Grove restaurant’s 10th anniversary celebration is shedding light on an important cause.

Chanticlear Pizza and Grill held a 0.1K run on Sept. 19. The simple 100-meter dash not only celebrated the restaurant’s anniversary but helped raise money for Heroes Helping Heroes.

“It’s such a good cause near and dear to my heart because I’m friends with a lot of the local firemen and police,” said Troy Nygaard, co-owner of Chanticlear Pizza.

Heroes Helping Heroes, a nonprofit, helps active and retired police officers, firefighters and other first responders who suffered injuries on the job and were unable to return to their work by providing peer-to peer support.

Chris Steward, a former Minneapolis police sergeant of 15 years, started the organization after he was diagnosed with PTSD after the 2020 riots that occurred following the murder of George Floyd. 

“There were a lot of organizations out there for our military, and rightfully so, but there wasn’t anything out there for our first responders, especially when it came to mental health, and that is how Heroes Helping Heroes was born,” said Chris Steward, founder of Heroes Helping Heroes.

It’s the first time Chanticlear Pizza has hosted the event for Heroes Helping Heroes. Participants contributed a $10 entry fee and Chanticlear and the Northwest Area Jaycees donated to the cause.

“Seeing the results that we’ve created so far, and just the support that we have from our first responder community is tremendous,” said Steward.

Maple Grove