A customer walked into his pizza shop and changed Philadelphia with $1 and a single Post-it note
http://www.upworthy.com/a-customer-walked-into-his-pizza-shop-and-changed-philadelphia-with-1-and-a-single-post-it-note?c=upw1At one Philly pizza parlor, customers can "pay it forward" by pre-purchasing $1 slices of pizza for people in need.
Owner Mason Wartman, who left his Wall Street desk job to open Rosa's Fresh Pizza, says pay-it-forward pizza started with one customer, one dollar, and one Post-it note.
The customer was inspired by an Italian coffee house practice called caffè sospeso (suspended coffee), by which customers can pre-purchase cups of coffee for less fortunate customers. Wartman wrote the purchase on a Post-it and slapped it on the wall behind the register to be redeemed by the next homeless patron to enter the store.
As word spread, more and more customers participated.
And Rosa's wall blossomed with colorful notes signifying acts of kindness — and a guaranteed slice for everyone who walked in, regardless of their ability to pay.
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For over two years and going on three now, the REPUBLICAN UNITED STATES CONGRESS under the leadership of a speaker and his dysfunctional republican cohorts, the same corrupt leader that passed out lobbyists tobacco checks on the House floor (John Boehner Rep / Ohio in 1995--1996), has denied access for HUMAN BEINGS to have there own (citizens) money from unemployment benefits to help them EAT food.
What this country has got and has under the surface is a right wing dysfunctional government that has done nothing for its citizens-----the media in there show and tell question period with this hypocrite should be asking what have you done to help this country EAT--I mean really what have you done to feed human beings, give out a list of the accomplishments which can be surmised on a post-it-note on feeding human beings in this country.
Then they should ask and see what kind of answer he gives for what this pizza owner is doing to help the homeless and those in need and what this corrupt house speaker has done -------nothing, except go on vacation last year to the tune of 244 days and collecting from the same homeless people there taxes for his pay base of $225,000 dollars, he should be reminded of this every time he gets in front of a "reporters" for his show and tell pony show to show and have him explain his outright disdain for this country and the feeding of its citizens
but...
(sorry to throw in a but) 
This is similar to faith-based approaches to poverty. It is fragmented, and it depends on whether the homeless person happens to be near a pizza place like this. Yet, if people do something like this, they've "done their charity" in their minds, and they stop thinking about the problem there. The GOP, in fact, thinks ALL aid for the poor should work this way - sporadic individual gifts of charity rather than systematic safety nets that would create stability and thus reduce the tsunami of stress coming down on the poor.
Other things to thing about - if the same person is coming in for pizza 3 times a day for months because they are *still* homeless and using up the stickies - do they start to get a "reputation"? Do they start to get the evil eye from other people there who have started to recognize the person and fill in their own imaginary backstories about "alcoholism" and "irresponsibility"? And now he's taking more than his fair share from other homeless people! That particular one might be discouraged from coming back again. And so it goes...
By the way, some small towns are doing an idea (again, unfortunately "faith-based"
called "community tables", where local restaurants and community volunteers put together a great free meal. Anyone can eat for free, and the idea is to integrate people at all levels of the community. Perhaps poor people who have been unemployed can network a bit as well as getting the free meal. They will hopefully maintain/build ties with other people in the community. It seems like a great idea to me, but again I have the same concern as above: what if some secret opinion starts to evolve about someone and "community table" operates to show someone that the community *has* judged them instead? If I may judge, small towns can be full of Judge Judies! Perhaps I've read a little too much about the dynamics of "witch creation" in Early Modern Europe, but I do think interests and prejudices can intrude upon the best intentions...
