The American pizza community is rallying to support victims of the wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, and Slice Out Hunger, the pizza nonprofit focused on food insecurity, is leading the way with a new emergency campaign called Pizza Relief: Hawaiian Fires.
Now through September, participating pizzerias will donate 15% of sales of their Hawaiian pizzas to Slice Out Hunger’s emergency fund. All money raised by the campaign will fund hunger relief in Hawaii.
According to Slice Out Hunger founder Scott Wiener, the campaign aims to raise $10,000, and Slice Out Hunger itself has already donated $5,000 to provide instant support. To help the cause, pizzerias can register at sliceouthunger.org.
Recipe video: Peter Reinhart’s Motor City Hawaiian pizza
More than 100 people have died as a result of the disastrous wildfires on Maui and the Big Island this month, and many working-class communities have been destroyed. The devastation was fast and thorough, leaving much work to be done.
Although Hawaiian Pizza isn’t a Hawaiian invention, it has come to symbolize a rallying cry in the pizza industry. Earlier this week, Tutta Bella, a VPN-certified Neapolitan pizzeria in Seattle, unveiled the Maui Ohana, a pineapple-topped pizza that will raise funds for the Maui Food Bank.
According to a Slice Out Hunger press release, recipes for dessert pizzas with pineapple appeared in newspapers in the 1950s. Deemed “Hawaiian” because of the fruit’s connection to the state, they made their way onto pizzeria menus by 1960.
Of course, not everyone loves pineapple on a pizza. And that’s OK, said Wiener, who also operates Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York. Pizzaioli can choose another topping or flavor combo to create a Hawaiian-themed pie for the Pizza Relief: Hawaiian Fires fundraiser.
Recipe: The Spicy Hawaiian Pizza
“This is a campaign everybody can get behind, even if they don’t like the idea of pineapple on pizza,” Wiener told PMQ. “I’ve seen Hawaiian Pizza recipes from the 1950s that have papaya! When I was in Hawaii a couple years ago, I had pizzas with mango, avocado, coconut and even poke. It doesn’t matter what’s on your pizza, as long as it’s made with the aloha spirit!”
Slice Out Hunger is a New York City based nonprofit with more than 650 pizzeria partners across the U.S. The organization fights hunger by producing pizza-themed campaigns and events. Since incorporating as a 501(c)3 nonprofit in 2015, Slice Out Hunger has raised nearly $1.5 million to support those facing food insecurity. Slice Out Hunger is looking for sponsors to match every dollar raised by this emergency campaign. If you’re interested in matching donations, you can email Wiener at scott@sliceouthunger.com or Erin Ruszaj, the nonprofit’s director of operations, at erin@sliceouthunger.com.
