A pizzeria owner has captured attention far beyond his New York neighbourhood after making a simple promise to people struggling with hunger: come inside and eat.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Daniel Romano, who owns D’Romano’s Pizza in the Throggs Neck area of the Bronx, decided to take action after spotting a woman searching through his rubbish for something to eat.
Rather than allowing her to continue, Romano approached the woman and invited her into his restaurant.
“I grabbed her by the hand and I led her to the pizzeria and I went in the oven and I got her a fresh slice and gave it to her,” Romano said, per FOX News. “Sat down and she started crying. I said, ‘don’t cry, eat. This is not a problem. I don’t want you eating out of a garbage.’ So I came up with the concept: feed people that are hungry.”
That encounter prompted Romano to grab a marker and create a handwritten sign for the window of his pizzeria.
The message made it clear that anyone finding themselves in the same situation would be welcome through his doors.
“To the people eating out of my garbage, I have more love for you than you think,” the signs reads. “Please come in and tell me you’re hungry. I will forever give you a slice and fresh water to drink.”
It is a small gesture that Romano believes can make a difference at a time when he feels people could use more kindness.
“Right now, I think this world is shot,” Romano said. “I think there’s too much hate. There’s too much aggravation. There’s too much negativity. Why not put a smile on someone’s face?”
His approach to helping hungry people also has roots much closer to home.
Romano credits his late mother, Carmella Romano, with teaching him a lesson that has remained with him since childhood.
“My mother, God rest her soul, her name was Carmella Romano, she had a saying in her dialect Italian,” Romano said. “She used to say, ‘a desperate person will always make a better decision on a full stomach than on an empty.’ It always stuck with me. So I feed people.”
For those who already know Romano, his generosity apparently comes as little surprise.
Longtime friend and customer Tony Cucci said: “A guy like him, coming from this neighborhood, wanting to give back I think it’s the coolest thing,” Cucci said. “He’s such a good-hearted guy.”
But the story has now travelled considerably further than the Bronx.
People from across the United States have contacted Romano wanting to contribute and help pay for slices for those who need them.
“I have people from Texas, I have people from Arkansas, I have people from Alaska. Don’t ask me, I didn’t even know Alaska had a phone. From all over the world, Hawaii, calling me,” Romano said.
What began with one woman, one slice of pizza and a handwritten sign has now become a message reaching people thousands of miles away — while ensuring anyone hungry outside D’Romano’s knows there is another option besides the bin.
Featured image credit: giovannipaolony / Instagram
