Published in the interest of the Fort Benning community

August 5, 2005

Papa John's Supplies Pizzas
for Soldiers Abroad

Jennifer Gunn
USAIC Public Affairs Office

The Papa John's ovens in Ladonia, AL., were fired up early on Monday morning to crank out 500 pies before noon.

The occasion: one deployed Soldier's hankering for pizza in Iraq. And, not just any pizza.

In an e-mail to Staff Sgt. Randy Henson, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, Kevin Loncher, the military liaison for Bill Heard Chevrolet, asked him what he could use "over there" (in Iraq). Henson said he "would love a Papa John's pizza."

Loncher made it his mission, with the help of co-workers, to purchase 20-30 pies to send to the Soldier. He called Papa John's to see if he could get a discount "since it was for a good cause."

"They said, 'no, we'll give you the pizzas,'" Loncher said.

Scott Pratt, the local franchise's vice president, said Papa John's has donated pizzas to deployed Soldiers on a corporate level, but this was the first opportunity to do so locally.   "We're ecstatic that we get to do this," Pratt said. "We would have given them a thousand if they could have taken that many."

And they could have if not for the high cost of overnight shipping. As it is, DHL Worldwide Express is giving a 70 percent discount. Otherwise, Loncher said, it would have cost $10,000.

The pizzas were shipped from Phenix Food Service in Phenix City, where they were vacuum sealed and frozen for the 6,000-mile journey.   1st Lt. Virgil Dwyer, rear detachment commander, expects the pies to be delivered sometime next week, and he said their arrival will come at a great time to boost morale. The battalion has been in Iraq for seven months building schools, improving medical facilities and helping to restore water and power to the community.

"To have something like this at the seven-month mark of a deployment is a big morale booster," Dwyer said. "Right now, we're focusing on one company. We consider this run the test pilot to see how well this could work for other (companies)."

Pratt said Papa John's is ready for a repeat performance.   "We'd like to do this a couple more times before the battalion comes home," he said.   Loncher plans to cover future pizza drops by setting up a trust fund for contributions in hopes the operation can become a monthly event. Even if this pizza drop is the only one of its kind, the Soldiers believe it was worth the effort.

"This shows the Soldiers over there we love them - that's all that matters," said Staff Sgt. Donald Lindblade, with the battalion's headquarters company.

Several local businesses contributed to Operation Pizza Drop including Wal-Mart, Mahone Video Production, Tidwell Cancer Treatment Center and Dr. Willie Perry Consulting. For more information, call Ricky Riley at 681-9870.