Sometimes darkness truly breeds light. In the case of the coronavirus pandemic, many instances of everyday citizens turning into neighborhood heroes can be seen nationwide.

One teenager who seized the opportunity to help others in this stressful time was Noah Galper, a junior at North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, Florida. Originally from Boca Raton, Florida, Galper has been making the world a better place one pizza at a time.

“I was inspired by my uncle who lives in New Orleans. He was laid off from his job at a restaurant, and he decided to start making pizza for friends and then first responders,” Galper said. “It became a big thing in New Orleans, and I saw the impact he made on his community and I was inspired by him to do that for the South Florida community.”

The work that Galper saw his uncle do in New Orleans, Louisiana helped him to configure a way to help the members of his own community. Galper used his connections to help gain contacts for people he wanted to bring pizzas to.

“Since my father and I are involved in the South Florida Jewish community, we reached out to retirement homes and synagogues to get information on people in need,” Galper said. “We had a big list of 19 Holocaust survivors and 16 elderly couples in the community.”

Utilizing their list, the father and son duo were knew who they wanted to help and carried out their acts of good.

Just two weeks ago, Galper started the pizza project with his father and contacted as many coworkers, friends and family as possible to help fund his mission. Together, over $700 was raised.

Once they had the lists and the donation money, Galper and his father would place orders for the appropriate amount of cheese pizzas from Jon’s Place Pizza Bakery. They would then drive around home to home until all of the deliveries were made.

“Once we raised the money, that’s when the ‘Pizza to People’ project was born. I talked to my family, donators and even my uncle about the idea and they said go for it,” Galper said. “The day I launched and made the project public, I used the money I raised prior to deliver the pizzas to 35 total homes.”

Galper’s acts of community service serve as one positive example of someone finding ways to do good for others in a time of isolation. 

“What’s most inspiring to me is how beautiful the outcome of all of the outpouring of love from all of my friends and family [has been],” Galper said “I never knew the power of comradery until this moment and I could not be more happy.”

Galper made it his mission to take the help he received to feed those in need in his own community. He was able to accomplish his goal through his pizza deliveries.

“Our next goal is to feed the homeless and the first responders since it’s Passover and the elderly and Holocaust survivors are celebrating,” Galper said. “My overall goal is to keep this going and to make sure none of these cherished heroes go hungry.”