DHL Express, the world’s leading cross-border express services provider, is joining forces with Pizzas 4 Patriots, a non-profit organization, and UNO’s, the creator of the deep-dish pizza, to deliver 6,000 pizza pies to thousands of U.S. and Canadian soldiers just in time for U.S. Independence Day, July 4th, and Canadian Independence Day, July 1st.
Over the last three years, Pizzas 4 Patriots and DHL Express have delivered more than 60,000 pizza pies to U.S. servicemen and women stationed all over the world. The idea was initiated in 2008 by Ret. Master Sergeant Mark Evans and his 15-year-old son, Kent, while eating pizza and wondering if they could somehow deliver freshly-frozen Chicago-style pizzas to soldiers overseas. Not long after, Evans contacted General Petraeus who quickly granted permission to send over 2,000 pizzas to troops for the Fourth of July.
With the support of DHL Express, 6,000 ready-to-bake, deep-dish pizzas from UNO’s and Romeoville, Illinois-based Great Kitchens will be packed and loaded into a donated DHL cargo jet a week before Independence Day, then shipped to troops stationed at several military bases in Afghanistan.
“As a retired member of the military I know firsthand what this special care package will mean to our U.S. and Canadian service members serving in those faraway places,” Evans says. “We are so thankful to DHL Express for stepping up year after year and donating their services to deliver a slice of home to those men and women serving their countries.”
As the first international air express carrier to serve Iraq and Afghanistan, DHL supports the U.S. Department of Defense at these locations and around the globe. Its extensive global network and service capabilities, coupled with a "first in market" approach enables DHL to provide support that is second to none for US servicemen and women worldwide.
“Our ability to bring reminders of home to servicemen and women in the farthest reaches of the world is a testament to the great teamwork, expertise, and can-do spirit displayed daily by DHL staff around the world,” says Ian Clough, CEO of DHL Express U.S. “As the specialists in international shipping, DHL Express is honored to leverage its global network and transport this special shipment to lift the spirits of servicemen and women based in the Middle East.”
“We are happy to partner, once again, with Pizzas 4 Patriots and DHL in sending our troops a taste of home this Fourth of July,” says Frank Guidara, UNO’s CEO and Vietnam veteran. “Our troops have told us how much enjoyment it brings to receive a taste of home, and that is what this program is all about. It's a way to show our appreciation for all they do.”
