Random Acts of Pizza: How to Donate
Random Acts of Pizza let's you send a pizza to someone who really needs it.
June 28, 2011 -- A pizza delivers cheese, it delivers sauce, it delivers goodness. And now it delivers something else: kindness.
The website Random Acts of Pizza lets you send a pizza to someone who really needs it. All it takes is a simple click.
Daniel Rogers, one of the site's founders from San Antonio, Texas, said he got the idea a year ago when he was out of work.
"You feel disconnected from society, a kind of depression sets in," Rogers said of that period of unemployment.
His site is now posted on Reddit, a community news site that also hosts other charitable outreach ideas like "Closet Swap," "Food Pantry," and "SnackExchange."
On Random Acts of Pizza, people post personal stories looking for help, and then strangers fulfill the requests that speak to them the most. If the order is for someone far away, the site suggests sending a gift card for pizza, rather than placing the order.
The stories from the site are often moving, even heartbreaking.
One request reads: "Today is my husbands birthday and I wanted to take him out for dinner but we don't have the money. I would love to surprise him with pizza for supper."
Another story is from a parent: "A pizza would be great gift to give to my girls, who have been living off of potatoes and rice."
A New York man named Gabriel wrote in looking for help for his mother: "It's been a long time since my mother and I have had proper food. I've been struggling to find any kind of work so I can supplement my mom's social security. ... A real pizza would certainly lift our spirits."
Kelly Miller, also from New York, saw that last plea and decided to help.
"It was one of the first few responses, and the New York kind of stood out, and I thought since I'm here I should help a fellow New Yorker out," Miller said.
So did it help? ABC News tracked down Gabriel to find out.
"This was the best dang pizza ever. It's the best ever," he said.
Sure, maybe a pizza can't change everything, and it might even burn your mouth, but it can also fill your stomach and warm your heart.
"It says someone's got my back, someone's looking out for me," Rogers told ABC News.