Pizzeria owner sees people eat from dumpster, goes viral for free meal offer

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Chris Kolstad had enough of people grabbing leftovers from the dumpster behind his pizza shop and eating them. He posted on Facebook telling them to stop.

Just ask for a pizza, he said. No one should be eating from the garbage.

“Leave me a note,” Kolstad wrote on Facebook, “and we will find a way to leave any extras or mistakes out back so you have something to eat without going through the trash.”

Kolstad’s act of kindness went viral, and comments from customers and strangers poured in offering to help. So in addition to giving away dozens of pizzas, he began raising money – more than $3,000 so far – for Minnesota food banks, pantries and shelters. Minnesota news channel WCCO first reported the story.

Kolstad’s response was a sharp contrast from business owners and city officials who have used music, legal battles and fencing in attempts to deter the homeless and loiterers.

“Nobody is going to be eating out of a dumpster because it’s what they want to do,” Kolstad, 39, told The Washington Post. “Usually if somebody’s going to that length, they’re trying to survive. And I have a hard time sitting in a building full of food knowing that.”

Kolstad said people have eaten from the dumpster since he took over Pizza Man in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, in 2020. But in late July, he said, he noticed it happening more often.

While wild animals ravage food when they get into the dumpster, Kolstad found once-full boxes with two pieces of pizza still sitting neatly inside. There were often empty water bottles and used napkins nearby, too.

The uptick in dumpster visitors aligned with an increase in food insecurity in the Minneapolis area, said Dave Rudolph, co-director of Southern Anoka Community Assistance, a food pantry in Columbia Heights. Rudolph blamed, in part, an increase in prices for food and other products.

“We’re seeing more and more new people all the time,” Rudolph said. “We’ve never seen new people like this.”

The Food Group, a Minnesota nonprofit that aims to relieve hunger, found a similar trend. Minnesotans visited food pantries nearly 9 million times last year, 1.4 million more visits than in 2023, the group said.

Kolstad previously made efforts to curb the problem. He gave away pizza when school cafeterias closed during the coronavirus pandemic and helped raise money for Southern Anoka Community Assistance when it faced a funding shortage in 2023, according to the city of Columbia Heights. But none of those acts went viral like when Kolstad wrote on Facebook on July 29 that people in need of food could reach out for a free meal.

“If you are too embarrassed to ask, find a way to call us and ask if there is a way to leave a small cheese pizza outside the back door or something,” Kolstad wrote.

That night, Kolstad posted a picture of a white and red box of cheese pizza sitting on a plastic box near the dumpster, intended for the person who had been recently visiting. As the post resonated online, Kolstad said he would use Venmo donations to give away pizzas and assist food pantries.

“It’s just crazy to me how something very basic and what just feels like the human thing to do turned into such a huge thing,” Kolstad told The Post.

Missy Hines, who has bought frozen bacon and chicken pizzas from Pizza Man at a discount for more than two years, said she donated $250.

“Chris would literally put himself in the hole to make sure everybody got fed,” said Hines, 43.

In the past week, a handful of people have messaged the shop on Facebook, explaining their situation and asking for free pizza, Kolstad said. The shop has given away about 50 pizzas and has placed a pie near its back door every night. Plus, employees have taken large cheese pizzas to nearby parks where some homeless people sleep, Kolstad said.

While Kolstad doesn’t vet the requesters to ensure they’re in need, he said, people haven’t taken advantage of his offer.

“If somebody’s coming in asking for a small cheese pizza or something, realistically, that costs us next to nothing,” Kolstad said, “and I feel like that cost is less than [hurting] someone’s dignity.”

On Sunday, the shop said it received an unsigned note thanking employees for quickly responding to their Facebook message about their family’s struggles to afford food.

“What you guys are doing is amazing,” the note said, according to a photo of it posted on the shop’s Facebook page.

The shop gave $120 of its donations to Southern Anoka Community Assistance on Tuesday and plans to donate more in upcoming weeks. Pizza Man isn’t a “soup kitchen,” Kolstad said, but the shop will put aside about $20 per day from its donations to give away pizzas.

The publicity has also helped Kolstad’s once struggling business, as orders have picked up since his social media post took off. He’s glad about the extra traffic in his shop but said he’s not losing sight of the need in his community.

“If you have things you won’t eat, donate them,” Kolstad wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When you go to the store, maybe spend an extra $5 on things to donate.”

“We can’t fix all the world’s problems,” he concluded. “But if enough of us take small steps we can reduce them a little at a time.”