I have never been prouder to be a Toppers Pizza Team Member!

Along with all the world, we are each carrying our version of fear:  fear of the virus, fear of losing our jobs or livelihood, fear of the unknown!  In the face of that, the world is also working in the most incredible concerted manner to fight the virus and keep our wonderful way of life intact.  It’s amazing.

Federal State and local governments, as well as the CDC and Public Health are all working in a coordinated manner using best known practices to blunt the impact of the virus while keeping people fed and attended to.  At Toppers we are following everything very closely and implementing best practices and following all regulations as new pronouncements are made and things change.  

And as if I didn’t know how amazing our business is, we are blessed to be in a position to provide an ESSENTIAL SERVICE in our communities.  That’s right; even in the most extreme outbreak situations in the United States, FOOD DELIVERY is being deemed an essential service.  Again and again as states and municipalities enact more and more stringent of lockdowns as appropriate, I am not aware of a single municipality that has prohibited pizza delivery.  At Toppers we pride ourselves on bringing people together in celebration.  Who knew that what we are experts at would become such an important part of weathering the crisis.  For now at least, Toppers Pizza is more than a party in a box, we are actually playing an integral part of the severely limited food supply chain!

The best of Toppers is shining through right now.  Phil and Denise Downing are franchisees, Toppers originals and leaders in every way.  They have challenged their communities and fellow franchisees to match them, step up and buy hundreds of dollars of gift certificates from local restaurants (read this:  competitors!) that have been severely impacted by the crisis.  We all love the restaurant and hospitality business and the people that work in it and Denise and Phil are supporting our industry in an amazing way.  And I know that a lot of franchisees and team members have stepped up and met their challenge!

Bryan and Erin Atwood, franchisees in Blaine, MN and their GM Claudia started giving away free pizzas to anyone that was in need due to school closings.  What an amazing idea and incredibly generous way to give back.  Now many others of us have gotten on board and currently Toppers might be giving away more than 10,000 free pizzas a week to families in need!  Andrew Rock, the outstanding GM at the Bayview store in Milwaukee gave away more than 100 pizzas today alone!  Thanks Bryan, Erin, Andrew, Claudia and all of you that are working your tails off and being so generous in service to our communities.  These are only examples!

I don’t know what is going to happen with the health crisis and for that matter with the economy.  But I know this for sure:  the challenge we are facing is temporary!  I don’t know how temporary, but I guarantee you that this too shall pass!  Out of this crisis will come good.  I suspect there will be pain between here and there, but we are going to come out on the other side strong and vital.

Be a light of optimism, love and service in your life.  As people are isolating more, reach out to connect.  As the world puts more and more negative information in our social feed, feed each other good information.  Our core values are my core values and your core values. 

And take care of each other in the Toppers Family.  As long as we can safely serve our neighbors and provide jobs to displaced restaurant people, we will.  WE ARE TOPPERS PIZZA!