Customers help Brighton eatery donate 84 pizzas to food pantry
BRIGHTON — On National Pizza Day (Friday Feb. 9), owners of a Brighton pizzeria decided to celebrate by giving back to the community.
Captain's ön Main owner Nick Mannisto and his fiancé Lauren Somers headed to Brighton food pantry Bountiful Harvest with stacks of wood-fired pizza pies. Volunteers added slices from 25 pizzas into meal boxes to be delivered to food pantry clients on Friday.
The pizzeria will donate 84 pizzas total to the pantry. Mannisto and Somers decided to donate at least 20, and pizzeria customers made donations that covered the rest.
Somers said their effort won't stop there. They plan to continue raising funds for pizza donations and hope to get other pizzerias and the community involved.
"We're trying to see where the most need is," Mannisto said. "We're going with the flow and seeing where it's most helpful."
The pizzeria has also installed a "Give a Slice Back" board at the restaurant, where customers can pre-pay bills and leave them on the board for anyone who could use a free meal.
Captain's joined pizzerias across the U.S. in Slice Out Hunger's "Pizza Across America" campaign to donate to places like food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters for National Pizza Day.
When Bountiful Harvest President Yvonne Cavalli learned about the donation, she said it was "a shock" and she was "very excited."
"Our clients are going to be excited, too, when they see pizza," Cavalli said.
"We've seen an uptick of people coming in," said Brian Sadowski, who runs the pantry's kitchen.
Sadowski's daughters — Alexandria, 12, and Annabella, 10 — were off from school Friday and helped load takeout food boxes with pizza and salad. He said Bountiful Harvest plans meals around food items donated.
Lately, they've been delivering more than 200 free meals per day, which Cavalli said is up from about 175. She's also seen an uptick in the number of people who come in for groceries.
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“In my eyes, the best way to celebrate National Pizza Day is by helping others and giving back to our local communities,” Pizza Across America co-founder Carmine Testa wrote in a release. “We are thrilled to have Captain’s ön Main participating in our largest pizza delivery yet, and we couldn’t do it without their support.”
— Contact reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Customers help Brighton eatery donate 84 pizzas to food pantry
