If you walk into Rosa’s Fresh Pizza in Philadelphia, you can’t help but notice the walls are decorated with hundreds of Post-it notes and letters. The notes are from customers who donated $1 so homeless people in the community can come in and get a free slice.
Owner Mason Wartman started the program about one year ago after a customer asked if he could purchase a slice of pizza for a homeless person.
“I said, ‘Sure.’ I took his dollar and ran out and got some Post-it notes and put one up to signify that a slice was purchased,” he recalls.
9 months later, “Pay-it-forward Pizza” has bought over 8,400 slices of pizza for the homeless. With each $1 donated, customers have the opportunity to leave a happy message on the wall.
But some notes are left by those being helped, like this one below:
The word has spread within Philadelphia’s homeless community, and each day 30 to 40 homeless people come in asking for a free slice. Wartman says he is receiving enough daily donations that he never has to turn anyone away.
