WESTBROOK – When Steve Orr learned about the Taste of Westbrook charity event, he liked the idea so much, he’s started up his own program.

Orr, who owns Pizza Time on Main Street, said he participated in the citywide event in March, which asked local eateries to donate a percentage of their profits at a given time to local charity. The event, coordinated by insurance company Disability RMS, raised $2,642 for the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, which is based in Westbrook. Orr said Pizza Time raised more than $200 for the event.

Machelle Jordan, who works in customer service at Disability RMS and helped run the Taste of Westbrook, said she wanted to promote interest in local businesses and downtown Westbrook, in addition to raising funds for a worthy cause.

“They’re a vibrant part of our community,” she said.

Orr said many people come into his shop to ask him to help donate to worthy causes, but Jordan’s interest in reaching out to local businesses to support a local charity especially got his attention.

“When you start saying you’re going to get other businesses involved, I just felt like it was a good chance for the people of Westbrook to see local business,” he said.

The Taste of Westbrook was a one-time event over a week, from March 27-April 2, but Orr said he was inspired to create an ongoing, monthly event of his own, which began immediately afterward.

Called “Piece of the Pie,” the program happens at Orr’s shop on the last Thursday of the month, which this month will be April 28. The shop will donate 10 percent of all pizzas sold on the last Thursday of the month to a specific charity.

“We want it to get to the point where people are looking for it every month,” he said.

In April, the shop’s proceeds will benefit Project Graduation, a fund at Westbrook High School that will pay for a party for seniors on graduation night. Nate Hicks, Orr’s manager at Pizza Time, who helped get the program started, said he is reaching out to local efforts like Project Graduation and the Sebago Lakes Relay for Life.

“We want to keep it as local as possible,” he said.

Orr said he hopes other businesses will follow his example. Not only is it good for charities, he said, but it helps develop interest in local businesses, too.

“It’s kind of a no-brainer,” he said.

Keith Luke, Westbrook’s director of economic and commercial development, agreed that such a charity event draws attention to local businesses.

“It goes back to the bigger issue of ‘shop local,’” he said.

Luke said any effort to promote local business is a good thing, and if it raises money for local charities, too, that’s even better.

“I certainly applaud his efforts,” he said.