LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In Louisville, one pizza restaurant is making a big difference for the homeless community.
Pizza Lupo’s owner, Max Balliet, says it all started with a call to Wayside Christian Mission—the largest shelter in Kentucky’s largest city.
Pizza Lupo participates in “Slice Out Hunger,” a yearly event in which pizza shops across the country partner with homeless shelters to donate a day of meals for people in need. When Balliet called Wayside Christian Mission to arrange his restaurant’s donation this year, he learned the shelter is in dire need.
“It was obvious that this year there is a lot more need than they had last year,” Balliet said, recalling that workers at the shelter told him they’re serving 400 to 500 people a day, right now. “They are seeing a huge number of people displaced, and they are needing shelters and beds and food, so hearing that, talking to the organizers kind of inspired me to say, you know, ‘Let’s do this slice out hunger donation on Feb. 9, but let’s see if we can do a little bit more than that.’”
Balliet put out a call on social media inviting customers to order extra pizzas online or in-person. He promised to deliver them to Wayside Christian Mission for people experiencing homelessness to eat.
“The response has been incredible,” Balliet said. “It’s been, like, a lot.”
Balliet figured he would make one weekly delivery to the shelter with all the pies donated that week, but so many orders were received in just the first few days after his post that it turned to multiple trips in a week. Even people from out of state have sent orders for the shelter online.
“Every time we take a run, we’re going to just take the number of pizzas that we’ve had ordered and kind of do a variety, so that we can hit as many dietary restrictions as we can,” Balliet explained.
The restaurant owner said his kitchen staff has stepped up to help, with some employees even offering to come in on their days off to help with the extra orders.
Balliet also put out a call for winter clothes and other needed items online. He’s collecting donations at his restaurant and delivering the donations received with the pizzas. He says tampons, winter coats and children’s winter gear are the items shelter workers told him they need most.
Balliet plans to leave the option to donate pizza to Wayside Christian Mission on the Pizza Lupo website. He says the restaurant will continue making deliveries to the shelter as long as customers keep sending them.