HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - All seven Marco's Pizza locations in Hampton Roads will be giving away free pizza for families who have been affected by the government shutdown.
Photo: Marco's Pizza - Norfolk/Facebook
The promotion will take place on Monday, January 28 from 2-5 p.m. at the following locations:
- 3355 Commander Shepard Blvd., Hampton, Va.
- 463 Denbigh Blvd., Newport News, Va.
- 3030 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, Va.
- 1621 Independence Blvd., Virginia Beach, Va.
- 7721 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk, Va.
- 2099 Sun Harbour Ave., Suffolk, Va.
- 1320 Kempsville Rd., Chesapeake, Va.
Guests must show a valid government ID to receive a free large cheese or pepperoni pizza.
The idea to serve federal workers who were furloughed came from Brad Biggers, the General Manager of the Hampton location, when he noticed he was no longer seeing regular guests who would often come in for lunch from the nearby NASA Langley Research Center.
Biggers then began looking for a way the restaurant could help those worker who were trying to get by during the shutdown.
Related: Chesapeake elementary school taking action to help families during government shutdown
"You can always count on seeing certain customers, and now I haven't seen them in a month," Biggers said. "I just want to be there for people we've come to know since a lot of the NASA researchers would have lunch here at least once a week."
Biggers shared his idea with Tim Barr, the Vice President of Supply Chain and Logistics for Marco's Pizza. After Barr relayed Biggers' idea, the brand's key food distributor, Performance Food Service, coordinated with the six other Marco's restaurants in Hampton Roads as each store agreed to match the offer.
Food suppliers Escalon Premier Brands, Masters Gallery Cheese, Bay State Milling and Hormel Foods assisted the pizza chain's effort by donating various ingredients such as flour, cheese, sauce and pepperoni. International Paper, the chain's pizza box supplier, also donated all the boxes.
"All I can say is that it is great to work within an organization where the trust and partnerships are so strong that this many people from very diverse organizations can an will - without hesitation - align behind a worthy effort and get things done," Barr said.
Although the government has reopened for at least three weeks, Marco's is standing by its offer.
Biggers said while he is looking forward to seeing his regular customers as they get back to work, they still want to help out since they've been going through a hard time.
