MOD Pizza Offering a Pie Nationwide Inspired By Naperville Teen
It terrifies me that suicide seems to be a nationwide epidemic these days, especially in teens.
Every time I hear about someone taking their own life, my heart breaks a little. It doesn't matter if I know the person, my heart breaks for the grieving family with so many questions that they left behind.
After a Naperville family lost their teen son to suicide in 2017, the boy's mother felt compelled to send a letter to the city's MOD Pizza location letting them know how much their restaurant meant to her son.
According to the Chicago Tribune; the letter Jennifer Pedley sent to MOD Pizza in downtown Naperville detailed how her son Isaac "loved it there" and how much of an impact the store's manager made upon her son.
In her correspondence, the Naperville mom revealed how MOD became Isaac’s second home because manager Eric Kowalski and his team made Isaac feel like he could be himself. Isaac planned to work there when he turned 18.
“This guy (Eric Kowalski) is a rock star,” Jennifer Pedley said. “I wanted them to know this restaurant here is doing some great things.”
The letter meant soo much to MOD Pizza's founder that they decided to make a nationwide effort to promote suicide prevention by naming one of their signature pies the "Isaac Pizza".
The Trib reports that starting on June 26th, if you walk into any of the 355 MOD Pizza locations nationwide and order the Isaac Pizza you will receive a pizza with "an olive oil base, topped with garlic, ricotta cheese, sliced red onion, roasted red tomatoes, finished with a swirl of balsamic vinaigrette and topped with a sprinkle of fresh basil." You will also be helping MOD donate money to the JED Foundation which is helping develop a suicide prevention program for high schools and colleges.
Just an FYI...if you stop into a MOD Pizza in Naperville the Isaac Pizza will look a little different. It will be Isaac Pedley's usual; lots of pepperoni, bacon, chicken, ground beef but no anchovies, salami or sausage and a swirl of barbecue sauce. YUM!