dinos pizza toronto

This pizza joint in Toronto keeps delivering free food to local hospitals

Dino's Pizza is donating and delivering free pizza to front-line workers and those in need during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Dino Ari, the owner of Dino's Pizza, has a tradition of helping those in need. Back in 2018, the Turkish pizza maker handed out free pizza and winter clothing to the homeless. 

"We are always giving back," Ari told blogTO. "We've been doing this six or seven years."

Now, they're stepping up again. On March 17, Ari announced that Dino's Pizza would be giving free pizza to anyone who was in a difficult situation. 

"We may loose money but we gain humanity and friendship and build bridges in this difficult journey," said Ari in a Twitter post.

"We are with you, " he added in a video posted to Twitter

Over the last week Dino's Pizza has given out their famous wood fired pizza to police officers, fire departments, health care workers and the homeless. 

This weekend alone Dino's Pizza gave out over 200 pizzas. 

But unfortunately Ari said they're having to take a step back, and going forward are only going to be delivering free pizzas to hospitals. 

"A lot of people [are] abusing this," he said in a Twitter post on Saturday. "The demand it’s very high, we cannot continue anymore."

When blogTO spoke to Ari on Sunday he explained that the response was overwhelming and it was difficult to run the business because so many people showed up at once. From a logistics stand point they couldn't  keep up with the factory-like pace. Ari added that supplies were also starting to become difficult to secure. 

But he's still committed to helping. 

"These people are working hard, so we decided to go to the hospitals ourselves. It's better for us to bring to them," he said in a telephone interview.  

Today, Dino's Pizza is delivering free pizza to Trillium Hospital. 

"We are serving here in Etobicoke for 20 years. We value our community and city. We have to keep our hope up," he said. 

And while they're no longer just giving away pizza Ari said if someone is really struggling, Dino's Pizza is here for them. 

"[Anyone] who lives in this city and who really is in need and they can't afford to buy food for themselves please just come," he said.

"We can help. Our purpose is to build friendships and be a responsible citizen in worst case scenario. We want to remember the good things that happen not just the bad the bad things."

Lead photo by

Fareen Karim


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