By Tom Rohrer
While the holidays are a time to spend with family and those closest to you, some of the less fortunate do not have such opportunities.
In order to provide a warm and cheerful environment, along with a hot meal to those in need around the Olympia area, Old School Pizzeria was open for two hours on Christmas Day.
The popular and long-standing pizzeria gave away free slices of their renowned pizza, while providing a cheerful environment for people to spend time together out of the cold winter weather.
This was the first time Old School provided the holiday service, and the owners were glad it benefitted those in need of some Christmas cheer and the community as a whole.
“It went very well, and it was a great atmosphere,” said Kenny Pugh, the co-owner of Old School Pizzeria. “I really found it unbelievable how many people said something to me. I know people care, but everyone who heard about it and helped were so excited. It was a great collection of all types of people and everyone was totally happy to hang out. It was awesome.”
Pugh and co-owner Connie Phegley estimated that 400 slices were handed out to between 75-100 people in the two hour time frame. With such a huge reception to the charitable event, Pugh says the pizzeria will likely provide a similar service next Christmas to people from all walks of life.
“I’m definitely doing it next year if I’m here,” Pugh said. “It seems like from the feedback that I received that even more people would get involved. I would like to get all people who wanted a slice to be there. Downtown has a reputation for whatever, and that is what it is. But I think it’s good when everyone is around each other. We’re all people.”
Pugh hopes that the charitable service provided by the pizzeria will encourage other businesses to hold a similar event, or collaborate on a town-wide effort.
“It sure would be awesome if other businesses would do something. Maybe it’s something we could all do together,” Pugh said. “I would love to see downtown do something as a whole and bring it together. There are a lot of great business owners, and a lot of people that are socially conscious and want others to get help. I think most of the people are concerned with how to help people and not turn them away.”
“I think this community looks out for others and we can be on the same page,” Phegley said. “There are plenty of people and organizations doing great things this time of year that can go unnoticed but we could all agree that more could be done.”
Pugh says it’s a rewarding feeling knowing his colleagues, friends and himself made a difference on Christmas Day.
“It’s like I told someone today, it’s not selfish, but more about me feeling good helping others on Christmas,” Pugh said. “It made my Christmas better to be honest. I was impressed with how polite people were and just how everyone treated each other.”
For more information on Old School Pizzeria, visit www.oldschoolpizzeria.net or travel to their restaurant at 108 Franklin St NE in downtown Olympia.
