Sometimes your best promotion is carried out one piece at a time. At Rosa's Fresh Pizza in Philadelphia, a slice is always a dollar, but not everyone pays, thanks to the generosity of customers who "pay it forward," buying a slice or two for someone in need. According to 6abc.com, the concept is so popular, and people are paying it forward in such a big way, that Rosa's is feeding thousands, with at least 8,000 slices handed out to the hungry so far. Owner Mason Wartman (pictured) left his finance job last year in New York City and moved back home to open the pizzeria he named after his mother. The charity initiative started with the good will of one customer. One day, after a patron donated an extra dollar to buy a slice for someone hungry, Wartman ran out, got a Post-it and wrote a smiley face on it. The excited pizzeria owner stuck it back up on the wall to remind him to make good on the kind gesture. Post-it notes became the vehicle for running the system of pizza-slice donations. Nine months and more than 8,000 slices later, Wartman now keeps track of the charity on the cash register. But generous people still leave notes with kind sentiments like “You are beautiful” and “You can do it.” Other notes come from those helped, including one on a paper plate that said, "God bless you. Because of you I ate off this plate, the only thing I ate all day."
Read more about Philly’s pay-it-forward pizza plan at PMQ.com.
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