Pizza with a purpose
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Shannon and Tom Grande, who own and operate Grande Jr. Pizza Express in Meadow Lands, deliver 30 pizzas to the Washington City Mission Thursday as part of the National Pizza Day campaign.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Tom Grande shakes hands with Michael Woodruff, right, a cook at the Washington City Mission who said the Grandes’ pizza donation was greatly appreciated. Shannon Grande, left, and her husband launched the nonprofit Pizza With Purpose last month, a venture that matched the spirit of the National Pizza Day campaign.
National Pizza Day celebrations were in full swing at the Washington City Mission Thursday, when Shannon and Tom Grande of Grande Jr. Pizza Express delivered 30 pizzas to the downtown campus.
The Grandes, who recently launched the nonprofit Pizza With Purpose, were one of more than 500 pizzerias nationwide to donate pizzas to shelters and soup kitchens as part of Pizza Across America’s sixth annual National Pizza Day campaign.
“It goes right along with our mission,” said Tom Grande. “They gave us this opportunity. We can have a direct impact on the community.”
The delicious donation came at an opportune time: the City Mission’s dishwasher is broken, and folks have been dining with paper plates and plastic utensils, said president and CEO Dean Gartland. The City Mission is still accepting donations for a new dishwasher.
The Grandes were all smiles as they carried pizza into the City Mission kitchen, and cook Michael Woodruff said he appreciated their donation.
“Giving is rewarding. It’s priceless,” said Woodruff. “The men are going to come down smiling, saying, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’ It’s God’s will.”
For more information on the National Pizza Day campaign, coordinated by Slice Out Hunger, visit https://sliceouthunger.org/paa. To learn about Pizza With Purpose, go to https://grandejrpizza.com/.