Caroline Andrews is a Mt. Pearl based franchisee of Panago Pizza. Together with the support of Kimberley Devlin of Devlin Design, Carla Crotty of Facebook’s Need Something? Got Something?, and Hasan Hai of Project Kindness NL, she’ll be running a “Slices of Kindness” campaign.

Any customer at Panago Pizza (Commonwealth Avenue, Mt. Pearl) can donate a dollar. At the time you donate, you also place an encouraging post-it note on a board by the donation jar.

“Once the board is filled with notes,” Hai says, “Caroline will cater a lunch for the Street Outreach program run by the Community Youth Network (CYN) on Wednesdays from 12-1 PM.”

The project was inspired by the widely shared story of Mason Wartman, a pizza shop owner in Philadelphia, and his own $1 “Pay It Forward Pizza Slices” campaign.

“Our goal is first and foremost to help people in need, both with the food but also what we hope to be an incredible amount of positive notes from strangers, for strangers,” Hai says. The project launches today.

With donations being but a dollar, the idea is to turn small acts of kindness into a big deal for a local program — in this case, the CYN’s Street Reach program.

The program, operating out of 68 Queen’s Road, has been in operation since 2005. During outreach times, people can either drop into the centre or connect with Street Reach staff/volunteers walking in the downtown core.

Staff and volunteers provide food, personal care items, outdoor clothing, telephone access, supportive and caring interactions, assistance with accessing emergency housing, referrals to external services, condoms, safe drug use equipment, and information on a variety of topics or services available.

“Our mission is to feed those who are hungry and hurting,” Hai says. “More than just the food, we want to send a message that they are loved and that they matter … in recent years, the program has experienced significant growth and a high increase in the demand for service.”

Among its many programs, Street Reach provides outreach through a Community Lunch Program on Wednesdays from 12 – 1PM. It is to this program Panago will be donating pizzas on Wednesdays. Street Reach has no age restrictions and provides services to individuals of all ages.

Recap on How it Works:

  1. Donate $1 in the donation box by the cash register.
  2. Grab a sticky note and pen, and write an encouraging note to be passed on to clients at the Community Lunch Program.
  3. Stick it on the poster board by the condiment table.
  4. When the board becomes full, Panago will donate delicious, fresh pizza to the Wednesday Community Lunch Program.