ian’s | The Obama Diary

NY Mag: Ian’s on State Street – a small pizza place near the Capitol – has been fielding calls from citizens of twelve countries and thirty-eight states looking to donate free pizza to the Wisconsinites who have congregated to protest Scott Walker’s proposed legislation reducing the rights and pay of state workers. After promoting the cause on Twitter and Facebook, Ian’s gave away 1,057 donated slices yesterday and delivered more than 300 pizzas. The blackboard behind the counter now has a running list of places where donations have come from, and it includes China and Egypt.

Thank you for the photo Kasai – see it here on Facebook

Ian’s Pizza: ….maybe you’ve heard a little bit about what’s been happening in Madison this past week. Protests, marching, little ol’ Wisconsin on the national news…sounding vaguely familiar?

Yes, we’ve seen tens of thousands of people vigorously exercising their right to freedom of speech, steps from our front door….

On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning we took a late-night call from folks still over at the Capital; they were wondering if they could have our end-of-night leftovers. Well, of course – we’re always glad to hand out food at 3:30am!

The next day we got a handful of calls from folks throughout the country, people who had heard about our late-night donation. Then a few more the next day, and next thing, fast forward to 5pm on Saturday when we were so inundated with calls – from over half the states in the Union and from international locales ranging from Canada to Denmark – that our normal business had to essentially be shut down so we could focus on feeding the protestors.

…at last count we had sold over 430 of our signature 20″ mac n’ cheese pizzas to callers worldwide, and have at least 60 still waiting to be made so we could help feed what has turned into a city within a city…..