Rosa’s Free Pizza shop in Philadelphia serves customers daily, but unlike other restaurants, it also serves those who can’t pay for the food.
At $1 per slice, how is this possible?
It all started one day when one man walked in while the owner, Mason Wartman, was serving the customers.
He asked if there was any way he could pay for a slice in advance. Confused, Wartman asked if he was coming back to pick it up.
What this customer said in reply completely amazed him. The customer said that he was inspired by caffe sospeso (suspended coffee), which is how customers in Italy pre-purchase cups of coffee for the homeless who can’t pay for one.
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Similarly, the customer wanted to pay for a slice of pizza, just in case a less fortunate customer walked in, asking for free food.
Moved by this ingenious idea to help the homeless, Wartman wrote the purchase on a Post-it and put it on the wall behind the register.
Shortly after he left, homeless man walked in, and Wartman was happy to give him a slice of pizza for free.
When the news spread about this clever way to donate a slice of pizza, other customers participated.
Now, his shop is completely covered with colorful Post-it notes; in fact, Rosa’s actually served over 70,000 slices of pizza to those who can’t pay for food.
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Even though he no longer actually uses Post-it notes to redeem for pizza, Wartman still keeps them on the wall to remind others to be kind to one another.
This pay-it-forward project went viral, and Wartman even went on Ellen to talk about how this small gesture of kindness affected a lot of people in Philadelphia.
Check out the video to hear more from Wartman:
What did you think of Wartman’s unique way of giving back to the community?
Let us know by commenting below!