Pizzeria Donates Food To Hospital Staff Fighting Coronavirus

BOLINGBROOK, IL — Working in a hospital during a pandemic is a scary, stressful thing to do. It's to be on the front lines of a fight against a disease that has already killed thousands of people, and the very nature of the work means that staff are at risk of contracting the infection themselves. In that kind of environment, any boost to morale helps.

Thankfully, that's what pizza is for. Especially free pizza. The newly-opened Danny's Pizza and Burger Bar in Bolingbrook told Patch they plan to donate enough pizza and chicken wings to feed more than 300 people at Amita Health Adventist Hospital - also in Bolingbrook - this Thursday. 'Danny's' co-owner Jimmy Pieprzyca said he was motivated to supply the pies after witnessing what his wife, a nurse with the Edward-Elmhurst medical system, was going through on a daily basis. Pieprzyca said he also donated pizza to Edward-Elmhurst last week.

"My wife's a nurse at Edward-Elmhurst, so I know what they're going through on the front lines there," he said. "I just figured... we're new to the community here, let's be responsible neighbors and take care of the people here."

The mass delivery of the pizzas was facilitated between Pieprzyca and the executive director of the Bolingbrook Hospital Foundation, Mike Jostes. Jostes said that there is a regular supply of pizza at Adventist for staff to enjoy, but that the free food from Danny's is definitely a boon.

"We have two large conference rooms that we have set up during this time for our front-line staff," Jostes said. "We have a time that they can come in and get pizza for up to 300 day-shift staff and 150 night-shift staff... it's a steady stream of employees."

To maintain social distancing even among hospital staff, Jostes added the food available in the conference room constituted less of a pizza party and more of a pizza waiting line.

"It's more of a 'one-in, one-out...' with protective gear, in and out," he said.

Still, even waiting in line is sometimes worth it if a hot meal during a long shift at work is at the end of it. Pieprzyca, who said he only opened the Danny's location in Bolingbrook last week, said he wanted to make sure that people like his wife were able to enjoy whatever small comforts they could as they worked to assist those waylaid by coronavirus. He told Patch he would be willing to swallow the cost of the pizzas, despite the financial strain many restaurants currently find themselves in.

"It's not about the cost of it, to me," he said. "We opened up last week in the middle of all this... and that's basically our grassroots approach for our business, is taking care of our community."

With an example set by Danny's, another question is, who's next? A donation of enough pizza and wings to feed 300 people is a hell of a donation, but it still is only one donation. Jostes said that Adventist is open to anyone who wanted to donate anything they could to help hospital staff and patients navigate this stressful time. Even a little can go a long way.

"There's a meal train that's going on where local restaurants just like Danny's can donate food... and then there's gift card donations and local schools are writing thank you cards," Jostes said. "Just kind of that stuff that we're sending out to all staff during this time."

To donate to Amita Adventist Hospital staff, generous individuals can contact Mike Jostes at 630-269-3138 or at michel.jostes@amitahealth.org.

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