Images courtesy: Rosa's Fresh Pizza's Facebook page
Walk in to buy a pizza slice for $1 at Rosa's Fresh Pizza in Philadelphia and chances are that you'll end up doing someone a really good turn. The 'Pay-it-Forward' pizza system has been started by the pizzeria owner Mason Wartman, former Wall Street regular who worked as an equity researcher, after a suggestion from a customer. He wanted to buy a slice for a homeless person and Mason decided to make it a permanent option for all customers.
The pizzeria is named after Mason's mother and works on a system where customers can buy a slice for themselves, and then buy 'Little Rosa' tokens so that a homeless person can get a free slice too. Whenever someone buys a token, the pizzeria sticks a post-it on the wall and any hungry soul living on the street can pick it up and exchange it for pizza slices.
Happily enough, the world seems to be full of generous souls who not only buy Little Rosas' but also donate money to help out the needy. The pizzeria's wall is not only full of post-its but also thank you notes from the homeless who were able to sleep on a full stomach thanks to the generosity of strangers.
Since he started this initiative, Mason has even received a $10,000 donation from Ellen Degeneres after
she featured him on her popular talk show.
The world definitely needs more Mason Wartmans. Restaurateurs across the world, are you listening?