Frontline heroes have been getting plenty of free pizza lately, but a pizza shop in San Antonio recently honored a different group of brave souls: foster children.
Deco Pizzeria partnered with local contractor Roofs Over Texas to help Child Advocates San Antonio (CASA) throw a pizza party for about 350 foster children who have experienced abuse or neglect at the hands of family members.
Deco Pizzeria provided the pizzas, which were picked up by CASA and delivered to the children in foster care, who, like other children, are dealing with the effects of social isolation during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It brought tears to my eyes,” Jacob Valenzuela, owner of Deco Pizzeria, told KSAT. “It makes me feel really good.”
Related: This Connecticut pizzeria lets kids order anything on the menu for free every weekday
“Nonprofits, they are not getting funded,” Valenzuela added. “Donations are minimized because of financial situations that big corporations are put in. So we are all feeling it, so it’s all so important to reach out to those non-profit organizations.”
Deco Pizzeria’s donation was made even more poignant by the fact that Valenzuela and his team were not allowed to deliver the pizzas personally and see the children’s faces happy faces. They could not even receive pictures of the event because all of the children are under protective orders due to their situations with abusive or neglectful adults. (The children depicted in the photo at the top of this article are Deco Pizzeria customers, not children in the foster care system.)
