A single phone call from a stranger asking about leftover food has led to something much bigger at a small pizza restaurant in Michigan.

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Shanna Crice was managing the dinner rush at Rosco’s Pizza in Union when a woman called with an unusual question.

“It was a woman’s voice, kind of timid,” Crice told TODAY.com, “She said, ‘Do you have any food that you throw away at the end of the night?’”

Rosco’s makes pizzas to order, so there typically aren’t leftovers.

“I said, ‘Why are you asking?’ and she said, ‘I just wondered if you throw anything away,’ and she hung up. I was busy and kept going.”

It was only after Crice mentioned the “odd call” to colleagues that they wondered whether the woman might have been hungry.

“I felt bad instantly,” Crice said. “I had totally dismissed it because I was in a rush. That wasn’t very humble of me.”

Unable to identify the caller among the restaurant’s busy call log, Crice turned to Facebook.

“Maybe they’re reading our posts,” she thought. “Maybe if I post about it, they’ll see it and call back.”

Her message asked the mystery woman: “Please call back so we can have a different conversation.”

Crice still doesn’t know whether she saw it. Plenty of other people did.

The post received more than 100,000 likes, attracting attention from places including Pennsylvania, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Australia, Aruba, Scotland, England and Nigeria.

Comments included: “Major kudos to this pizza shop”, “Bless you and your establishment!” and “Seriously considering booking a flight from Denver to come support your pizzeria!”

One person wrote: “Don’t know how I can help as a Nigerian but because of this, I am going to pay an ‘extra attention’ to the first four needy people I see on the road today.”

People also began suggesting ways Rosco’s could help, including a “meal wall” where customers purchase food in advance and leave a ticket for somebody who needs it.

“I kind of like that idea,” Crice thought. “Let me look into that.”

By the following morning, however, people were already calling Rosco’s saying: “Can I talk to Shanna?” and “I want to donate to the wall.”

Crice ordered a bulletin board that night and researched how other restaurants operate similar schemes.

Within a week, Rosco’s meal wall was running.

Each donated meal costs $10, with tickets pinned to the board alongside heart-shaped stickers showing where the donor came from. Contributions have already arrived from locations including Arkansas, Florida, Portugal, Spain and France.

Crice has also contacted local schools and churches to make sure people know the meals are available.

“I’m sure you’re going to run into some families in need,” she told one school principal, “so send them our way.”

And seeing the finished wall has made the scale of the response sink in.

“Now that I’m not so busy, I’ve had a chance to sit and look at the board, and it was very overwhelming emotionally,” Crice said. “Looking at how many meals are up there is just amazing.”

Featured image credit: Rosco’s Pizza / Facebook