Pizzas 4 Patriots is teaming up with DHL Express to deliver 10,000 Chicago deep-dish pizzas to U.S. servicemen on Super Bowl Sunday – the U.S.’s biggest day of the year for eating pizza.
Pizzas 4 Patriots will send enough pizza to feed every soldier stationed in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Oman.
“We don’t put a dollar sign on it. It’s more about the personal value,” Mike Taylor, DHL Express’ global senior manager for U.S. government operations, said of the pizza delivery when asked about the shipping costs. “There is no other morale-booster around that is like that. It is very emotional for them. It reminds them of why they are there. It reminds them of the family back home.”
While the delivery can face challenges including extreme heat and cold, sandstorms and unexpected military action, “we have not lost one single pizza,” said Taylor. The pizzas go from Chicago to the DHL Express hub in Cincinnati. Packed in dry ice, they are loaded onto a direct 17-hour flight to the island nation of Bahrain, where they are repacked to ensure they stay frozen, Taylor said. Most pizzas are delivered within 20 hours, and even the most remote outposts have the pizzas in less than 36 hours.
“I know firsthand how meaningful these pizzas are to the troops and am thankful to DHL Express who graciously agreed to donate its shipping services to deliver a slice of home to our troops,” said retired Master Sgt. Mark Evans, founder of Pizzas 4 Patriots.
The pizza delivery will be distributed to Camp Bastion, Baghram Airbase and Kandahar Airfield and then on to various Forward Operating Bases in Afghanistan – with some pizzas also destined for troops in Kuwait and Oman.
“Eating a hot slice of pizza while watching the Super Bowl is an American tradition, so it’s very special to us that we help make this delivery happen and bring troops a slice of home,” Ian Clough, CEO of DHL Express U.S., said. “We’re delighted to leverage our international expertise and global network to transport this wonderful care package overseas.”
Since 2008, Pizzas 4 Patriots has worked with DHL Express to send more than 132,000 pizzas in support of U.S. military personnel overseas, including a record-setting pizza delivery confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2012.