The sight of IDF soldiers clad in their olive- green uniforms taking a much-needed break to munch on a slice of cheesy pizza is a familiar one to Mordechai Beasley. That's because the 25-year-old third-year business major at Ariel University, in conjunction with Connections Israel, founded Pizza2Give. The nonprofit initiative delivers pizzas on a daily basis to soldiers located on bases and outposts near Israel's borders. And it is not only the soldiers who benefit. Beasley orders the pizzas from restaurants and pizzerias in development towns on the periphery that are often hurt financially in times of conflict and escalation. As an IDF officer in the Gaza division, Beasley served in the Southern Command, as well as on bases in Judea and on the northern border. In an interview with Metro, Beasley describes how he saw many businesses near the Gaza border forced to close during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, when more than 3,800 rockets were fired at Israel. “I was a soldier two years ago during the war in the South, and I realized that many local businesses were paying a heavy price. As soldiers, we were getting donations from many generous people during the fighting, but the local businesses were suffering alone,” says Beasley, who was born in New Jersey and made aliya with his family to Alon Shvut when he was three. “These businesses really needed help.” One such business was Schmerling Pizza in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, which is located two kilometers from the Gaza border. “We had to close down our business for around 60 days during Operation Protective Edge,” Ohad Madmoni, 26, the owner of the pizzeria, told Metro a few hours after a Color Red alarm had sounded in the nearby Eshkol Regional Council. “We lost around NIS 70,000, and we had to take out loans in order to survive this bad spell. No one goes out to buy pizza during rocket attacks and alarms. Most people prefer to stay at home and in their shelters during escalations.” Madmoni added that he cannot send out his employees to deliver pizzas during escalations with mortar shells falling and alarms sounding. “It's not safe to deliver during escalations,” he said. In addition, Madmoni had to pay full salaries to 10 employees during the war with the business losing money. “A lot of local businesses were forced to close down. Until the government stepped in with compensation for these businesses, it was too little and too late. Thank God, we somehow survived,” he said. “There are not many pizza shops in the world that have to deal with the reality of rockets and mortars,” said Madmoni. “It's not normal for a pizza shop to function this way, but that is how it is here.” For this reason, Madmoni sees the Pizza2Give initiative as a blessing. “When Mordechai approached me about this initiative, I thought it was brilliant,” he said. Madmoni, who grew up in Sderot, under years of heavy rocket attack, said that Pizza2Give has helped increase sales for his pizza business. “I was also a soldier, and I know what it's like to get free pizza,” he smiled. “Every time Mordechai calls with an order, we deliver the pizzas to wherever they need to get to, even to the most remote areas in the South where soldiers are standing guard.” Beasley says that in addition to Schmerling Pizza, Pizza2Give works with six other pizza businesses across the country, including in Katzrin, Alon Shvut, Kiryat Arba and Ariel. During the recent forest fires that ravaged parts of Haifa, Pizza2Give and Connections Israel delivered pizzas to the soldiers, police officers, firefighters and volunteers battling the blazes and helping families in the area. “Depending on where the action is, we'll organize donations for pizzas in emergency situations through our website” says Beasley. While Pizza2Give delivers to everyone, Beasley says there is a special focus on lone soldiers. “We want to make lone soldiers feel at home in Israel,” he notes. “Parents will contact me and say. 'My son is serving on this base. Can you send him and his friends a pie?' I get in touch with the local business in that region and order the pizza.” During Hanukka, Pizza2Give expanded into delivering sufganiot, to IDF soldiers. Throughout the holiday, Beasley traveled to army bases in Judea and Samaria to deliver the doughnuts. Pizza2Give also sponsored two big Hanukka parties in conjunction with the Michael Levin Lone Soldier Center. “We arranged with small bakeries across Israel to send trays of jelly doughnuts to IDF bases across the country, and we [sent] personalized gift bags to the soldiers as a holiday surprise,” he says. “Within the three months of running Pizza- 2Give, we have been able to accomplish so much,” he points out. “I established this initiative with two goals in mind: to help the soldiers who work day and night to keep our borders secure and Israel safe and to assist the small businesses that need support. By ordering pizza from the Pizza2Give website, anyone can help Israeli soldiers directly and put a smile on a soldier's face.” Beasley says that he has each group of soldiers that receives a pizza pie take a photo holding a big thankyou note with the name of the donor who provided for the pizzas. The photos are then uploaded to the Pizza2Give website and the Facebook page. “There is always a way to make a difference,” concludes Beasley. “With Pizza2Give, a donation of $20 for a pizza goes a long way for IDF soldiers keeping watch on these cold winter nights.” For more information: www.pizza2give.com
Enjoying a slice, courtesy of Pizza2Give(photo credit: PIZZA2GIVE)