May 22, 2020
Courtesy of/Dock Street Brewing Company
You can help Dock Street Brewing Co. donate pizzas to homeless shelters and health care facilities across Philadelphia. The craft beer company will match donations by a minimum of 20%.
Dock Street Brewing Co. is donating pizzas to health care workers and homeless shelters in the Philly area – and they need your help.
"It's showing love to a stranger and just reaching out with a cheesy, melty hug," Renata Certo-Ware, head of marketing and events for Dock Street, told PhillyVoice.
The Philadelphia craft beer company began donating pizzas in April. It all started with a donation to Jefferson Health.
"I linked up with a friend, Dr. Ida Micaily at Jefferson, to drop off a dozen pizzas," Certo-Ware said. "She and her colleagues were so happy and grateful, and she sent us photos of the team. We could tell they were smiling even under their masks! It made me realize just how happy pizza makes people."
After donating to several local health facilities, Dock Street wanted to extend that sentiment to the population most vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic — the homeless.
"It must be an even more stressful, scary time now than usual, and we didn't want them to think they aren't valued, loved and thought about," Certo-Ware said. "We wanted to make sure that some of our fellow Philadelphians who don't have a home are at least getting a warm, fresh, handmade meal."
For $20 a pie, anyone can donate pizza through the Philadelphia brewery's website and the company will match donations by a minimum of 20%. When a customer makes a donation, they also can send a message of support, which Certo-Ware will tape to the pizza box.
The messages struck a chord with one shelter, Miracles in Progress, a recovery house for drug addiction. The residents were so moved that some of them talked about it in their therapy session the next day, Certo-Ware said.
So far, the company has donated more than 200 pizzas to health care facilities across Philadelphia. This includes Lankenau Medical Center, Roxborough Memorial Hospital, Hospital of University of Pennsylvania, Mercy Medical Center and Temple University Hospital. They also have sent more than 100 pizzas to shelters, including Episcopal Community Service, Project Home, Bethesda Project, Womenspace and Families First Philadelphia.
The week of May 25, pizzas will go to Families Forward Philadelphia. "There are 170 residents, so this will be a big donation of 40-50 pizzas," states the website.
The donations don't just support the health care workers and homeless community, but Dock Street as well. A small portion of proceeds goes to the company.
"Food is love," Certo-Ware said. “And through these donations, Dock Street also feels that love and support.”
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