Joe Alvarez is one of Anthem’s busiest community volunteers, and this conversation traces how he got there. He explains landing in Arizona through his job with Boston Market, then renting a home that the very realtor steering him toward Anthem happened to own herself. After leaving that company, Joe signed on as a consultant with By the Bucket, built out a salad lineup to compete directly with Salad and Go, and was hired full time to run catering and off-premise business. He also clears up a local myth: the restaurant’s beloved vodka sauce holds no vodka at all, just a proprietary pink sauce.
Most of the episode centers on giving back. Joe sits on four boards, runs a prostate cancer screening effort that has caught cancers early enough to save lives, and helps lead Anthem Rotary, now grown to seventy-three members and returning more than a quarter million dollars to the community each year. He roots that generosity in his working class childhood in Gary, Indiana.
Key takeaways
- Joe Alvarez joined By the Bucket after building its salad menu as a consultant to rival Salad and Go, and now serves as president of catering and third-party off-premise business.
- By the Bucket's popular vodka sauce contains no vodka; it is a proprietary pink sauce made by a woman in Phoenix.
- Joe sits on four boards: Musical Theatre of Anthem, the Prostate On-Site Project, Anthem Rotary, and the new North Valley Football Club youth soccer program.
- Anthem Rotary has grown to 73 members and pushes more than $250,000 back into the community each year through frequent projects and two annual golf tournaments.
- His proudest Rotary moment was organizing a car wash after the Andrew C. Diamonds jewelry shooting that raised $38,000 in about five hours for the victims.
- Joe traces his charitable drive to his working class Gary, Indiana childhood, recalling his steelworker father surprising him with maroon Chuck Taylors so he would not feel left out.
Related: Eye on Anthem podcast