Helping the Homeless One Slice at a Time in Center City

When pizza slices cost just one dollar, it’s easy to order extra. Such is the premise behind a generous giving scheme at Rosa’s Fresh Pizza in Center City, where customers foot the bill to buy slices of pizza for the homeless. NPR recently produced a story on the restaurant, which is doing its part to help feed the homeless in Center City.

Colorful Post-It notes greet customers at Rosa’s Fresh Pizza, where extra slices of pizza are purchased for the homeless. Photo credit: NPR.

Owner Mason Wartman explains the genesis of pay-it-forward pizza thusly: about a year ago, a customer inquired about buying a slice of pizza to donate to someone homeless. By way of accounting, Wartman stuck a Post-It note on the wall to signify that the slice had been bought. This kicked off a heartwarming tradition. Today, the walls of Rosa’s are covered with Post-Its from some of the 8,400 customers who have bought pizza for the homeless, as well as thank you notes from those that the restaurant has helped to feed. At some point the Post-It accounting system became unwieldy, Wartman says, and he started keeping track of the free slices at the register. Still, the notes are a lasting reminder that the kindness of strangers is still something that exists. Homeless people can come into Rosa’s and request a slice of pizza, which they are freely given. Wartman says that he hands out 30 to 40 free slices daily, and that there have always been plenty of donations to cover the costs.

Rosa’s is far from alone in the “pay it forward” approach to feeding the homeless. In Italy, a practice called “suspended coffee” happens when a customer pays for the coffee of someone who can’t afford it. And bakery/cafe chain Panera has opened five Panera Cares locations around the country where there are no set menu prices and the donations given by more affluent guests go towards paying for those who can’t otherwise afford their meals.