GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — No matter how you slice it, pizza is an everyman's food. So, as his own way of addressing a universal problem, a Grand Rapids man has begun passing out the universally beloved pies.
"My mission is to solve world hunger one person at a time," Thomas Esch said. "You just want to spread positivity and joy in a world that doesn't have enough positivity and joy."
Routinely, Esch will buy a towering stack of pizzas from Uccello's on Monroe Center Street, pack them into the back of his car and deliver them to the sidewalks and street corners of Grand Rapids, often stopping outside Mel Trotter Ministries and Dégagé Ministries, which serve people who do not have home.
"I tell everybody, do one kind deed for one person every day for the rest of your life and, no matter what, you'll wake up in a better world tomorrow," Esch said.
Esch began the charity work last fall and, to support what is currently a one-man operation, recently founded One World Nourishment, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
On TikTok, he has posted videos of him passing out food in not only the people of Grand Rapids, but San Francisco, Miami and even Jamaica, where he ministered to those whose livelihoods were leveled by Hurricane Melissa.
Esch says he'd like to buy a food truck to be able to travel greater distances and pass out more than just pizza.
"This isn't just a one day thing. This is an everyday thing," he said. "People need food every day. People need support every day."
