Twin Cities "Pizza Man" inspiring community to fight hunger, one pie at a time
It's no surprise the number of people who need help affording food is also on the rise. That's got one small business in the Twin Cities hungry to help in a unique way.
The owner of Pizza Man in Columbia Heights is offering free pie to those struggling in his neighborhood.
"[We] have seen people eating out of our dumpsters and, I don't know how else to phrase it, we don't want someone to have to live that way," said owner Chris Kolstad.
Kolstad posted on Facebook earlier this week, letting his followers know about the dumpster divers and efforts to help them out. Staff is now leaving a pizza out back after they close.
"Hey, if you're out here doing this you can come talk to me," Kolstad said. "We're sitting in a building full of food 24/7, it's hard to watch somebody eat out of your garbage can."
Kolstad says hundreds of people have reached out, wanting to support his efforts. He started gathering donations, with plans to cover the cost of pizzas and donate to local food banks.
"We're going to do a little grocery run this weekend and pick up a bunch of stuff deliver it to a couple different food banks," Kolstad said. "We'll be leaving some available for when people walk in and talk to us."
Nonprofits in Minnesota say the need for food security is rising. A report from the Food Group says Minnesotans made 9 million visits to food shelves in 2024, which was 1.4 million more visits than the year before.
"It's just ever-increasing numbers of people are just showing up," said Dave Rudolph, co-director of SACA Food Shelf in Columbia Heights. "It's seniors, it's adults, it's younger adults, people come in with kids."
SACA says the number of people using their services has increased over the past four years, rising from 51,600 individuals in 2021 to 68,100 last year. Rudolph says they're on track to serve even more people this year.
"A lot of them are looking for produce and proteins, those are some of the more expensive things," Rudolph said, adding the food shelf always accepts monetary and food donations.
For Kolstad, it's about using what you have to help others.
'There's what, 7 billion people in the world, if everybody can make a little tiny difference, it's monumentally better every day."
Kolstad plans to make a grocery run this weekend using the donations, and will then make some deliveries to local food banks.
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