Food heroes: Domino's dishes up 2,000 free pizzas to feed first responders after blizzard
From plow drivers to prison guards, nobody was left out
As emergency workers all around St. John's ground their way Monday evening into the fourth straight day of exhausting work, gifts arrived in unusual boxes: pizza containers.
Boxes were stacked so high, the delivery drivers needed trolleys to bring them to police officers, nurses, prison guards, plow drivers and more.
Shaun White, the co-owner of six Domino's franchises around the St. John's metro region, came through with about 2,000 pizzas for the people keeping the city afloat during a state of emergency.
"We figured it was enough to feed 10,000-plus people. We're very proud of the results," White told CBC News Tuesday.
The idea came together late on Monday, as Shaun White and his wife and fellow co-owner, Melanie, sat home and pondered what they could do to help.
The city had been on lockdown since a historic blizzard wreaked havoc on Friday, dumping more than 75 centimetres of snow across the region.
White knew they couldn't open the store in a state of emergency, so he called three levels of government to ask for help.
City officials gave the green light, and local MHA Sarah Stoodley even came down and spent the day packing boxes.
Police cruisers double as delivery vehicles
They called the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary to get a number of how many pizzas they would need, and the police provided an enthusiastic response.
They had cars on the road and were willing to deliver.
"The bulk of the pizzas that went to the hospitals yesterday — which was in the hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands — the RNC volunteered to take those and brought those to the hospitals for us. That was a great help."
Huge thank you to <a href="https://twitter.com/DominosCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DominosCanada</a> for supplying pizza to first responders during this SOE! Sgt. Green is in shock of their generosity, as you can tell from the video! Members delivered them to St. Clare’s, RNC locations, and other first responders this afternoon! <a href="https://t.co/bLyieNzJTR">pic.twitter.com/bLyieNzJTR</a>
—@RNC_PoliceNLTo pull everything together, White contacted his staff members, who had been missing shifts since Thursday. They were more than happy to help out, donning the blue, white and red polo shirts and cooking up a ton of product.
It's estimated the total value of the giveaways was $30,000.
White went along for some of the deliveries, and said he was blown away to see how hard people were working throughout the state of emergency.
"The emergency room at the Health Sciences Centre for example, [to see] the staff there, the nurses, the paramedics, the doctors and what they were going through and the burden they were facing.… It was a lot to see," he said.
"But to be able to walk in there with something that could brighten their day and see their faces and the responses, that was just fantastic and made everything worth it for sure."
White thanked everyone who helped out, including the national headquarters of Domino's Canada, which provided support for the giveaway.
Not the only heroes
The Gathering Place is also being lauded for its efforts to feed to people in need on Monday and Tuesday.
All staff and volunteers within walking distance of the community outreach centre trekked through the snow to provide a hot meal to clients. About 70 people showed up for lunch on Monday.
"It's been fantastic," said volunteer co-ordinator Nancy Elkins. "We've had some guests that have gone without food since Thursday, so it's good that we were able to open today."
William Fillier was one of the first people in line Tuesday for a meal.
He's been trapped inside since the blizzard, but got out for some much needed socialization and a good meal.
"It's a headache. I've never seen this amount of snow," he said.
The Gathering Place also had medical staff on site for people needed help.
Random boxes also began popping up around St. John's throughout the state of emergency, with people leaving items for others to take.
"Take what you need," read a sign placed on a plastic container full of canned goods and baby formula on Seaborn Street.
In community Facebook groups, people posted items they had stockpiled in case a nearby resident was in need. Boxes of spaghetti, tomatoes, baby wipes, pampers, formula and more were listed as free for the taking.
One person posted that they were in need of dog food and vegan food. Within minutes, one person offered to deliver dog food, while another offered to deliver vegan pea soup.
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