Donations To Ian's Pizza On State Street Help Feed Teachers' Protest In Madison, Wisconsin

Fueled by worldwide donations, hundreds of pizzas have been delivered to the teachers' strike in Wisconsin, reports the Daily Cardinal.

After HuffPost's coverage of the initial donation of pizzas on Feb. 16, Ian's Pizza received a flurry of calls. Jack Thurnblad, assistant manager of the pizza parlor, told the Cardinal that the phone hasn't stopped ringing since.

"I think right now we've delivered 500 [pizzas] and we have 575 more to go with phone calls still coming in."

Donors have called in from 10 countries, including South Korea, Egypt and Denmark. On the home front, Ian's Pizza reports that money has been sent from 43 states.

Ian's Pizza is currently using both Twitter and Facebook to promote their donations. Ryan O'Connor told Politico that they wanted to give credit to those that were donating without fanfare.

"We made a post to our Facebook page because of the volume of calls we already had been getting unprompted."

Even so, Ian's Pizza maintains that they are politically neutral. Thurnblad told the Cardinal:

"We are supporting the people by giving them food, but not making any political statements or cash donations."

Others have made food donations in their own ways. Time Magazine reports that some volunteers have wandered the halls of the State Capitol buildings, passing out organic lolipops and sandwiches to the teachers on strike.

To make a donation to feed a hungry teacher on strike, visit the "Welcome" page on Ian's Pizza's Facebook account.

Comments

[Alva Mahaffey-Johnson]

11:48 PM on 02/24/2011

My children and I donated pizza's and salads for 3 days- a total of 9 pizzas and 3 salads. And we did so gladly. I was proud of my children to want to take ownership of the donations and remind me daily of this gift. I hope it made it to the protesters and that it helped fuel them a little more the long fight ahead.

We are all in this together.

[Fi]

04:46 PM on 02/24/2011

I bet when this is all over, they won't want to see a pizza again for a while.

[jellyj]

01:19 PM on 02/24/2011

At this point the strike is about the Union's right to collective bargaining. Without this right I'm not sure what a union would be, social club?

[DaMojo]

10:35 AM on 02/24/2011

I would be on board with the teachers and their unions if I thought we were truly getting our money's worth out of them. I think tenure should be more difficult to obtain. I think it should be easier to fire a teacher if their students don't do well. I don't think today's teachers are doing a very good job. I know that when my children were in school, I would get notes from teachers that had misspelled words. People keep forgetting that the union itself is there to make money. Union officials are highly paid. This really seems like "I've got mine and screw everyone else".

[gplamb]

08:02 PM on 02/23/2011

Work 9 months, paid for 12
tenure
great pension
great healthcare (pay a fraction of private sector)
now, free pizza - I'd walk off my job for these too

[whoknew42]

01:34 PM on 02/23/2011

I think we should donate toiletry items, like sanitary napkins, deoderant, washcloths & soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste. Let's remember there a lot of women and children down there.

[netop]

12:49 PM on 02/24/2011

You can. I posted some options on dailykos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/23/948764/-Action-plan-for-out-of-towners:-what-to-do-if-youre-not-in-the-Midwest-
Instructions mostly for Wisc, but will hopefully get some Ohio and Iniana info up soon.

[StopDU]

03:24 AM on 02/23/2011

Aloha! Please Forward! (and "share" on FB, etc.)

If you're so inclined - you too can help in Wisconsin! Buy coffee or lunch for people standing in the cold, protecting YOUR rights!

For water:
Capitol Center Foods, 608-255-2616.
Coffee, http://motherfools.com/
FOOD:
Burrito Drive, 608-260-8586
Silver Mine Subs, 608-286-1000
Ian's Pizza, 608-257-9248
Pizza DiRoma, 608-268-0900
Asian Kitchen, 608-255-0571
Nature's Bakery Co-op, 608-257-3649
Willy Street Co-op, 608-251-6776

[Madame De Stael]

10:18 PM on 02/22/2011

Hey baggers! This is what a grass roots movement really looks like!

[argon66]

03:10 AM on 02/24/2011

If, by grass roots you mean: holding the schools hostage by refusing to teach the children, obtaining fake sick notes from unscrupulous doctors, creating a financial hardship for parents that can't work while the strike is in progress, essentially prolonging the school year for the "children" in order to have the ability to collectively bargan against the will of the taxpayers, having a 60's style sit in, supporting absconded elected officials and eating free pizza...then you're right!

[Madame De Stael]

05:04 AM on 02/24/2011

yup! that's exactly what i mean you empty-headed smart-as$ fewl.

[Hopethisworks]

02:59 AM on 02/24/2011

You need to lay off the st0opid.

[gmb007]

03:14 PM on 02/22/2011

This global effort to feed the protesters is the very best of (good) capitalism, socialism, humanitarianism and all out solidarity I've ever seen. Truly impressive and awe-inspiring.

PIZZA and PEOPLE POWER!! :)

[gmb007]

02:55 PM on 02/22/2011

Updated PHOTO of Ian's chalkboard!!

"Donations taken from all 50 states and over 15 countries!"

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150394705580048&set=a.10150394393360048.613735.187063310047

[Naithom]

09:38 PM on 02/22/2011

We made sure Kentucky was represented.

[gmb007]

02:31 PM on 02/22/2011

Had Ian's existed back then, no doubt they would have gladly fed the rebel Minutemen. :)

GO, IAN'S!!

GO, BADGERS!!

[FTracy3]

09:39 AM on 02/22/2011

I wonder if some high school kid has tried to prank a local Domino's by ordering 20,000 pizzas.