This pizzeria in southern Michigan doesn’t make deliveries, ever, but last week the manager made a very special exception. A 500-mile exception.
Julie and Rich Morgan lived in Battle Creek, Michigan, more than 20 years ago, and even though money was often tight, there was one treat the family always looked forward to every payday: A pizza from Steve’s Pizza.
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But that tradition came to an end when the couple moved 225 miles south to Indianapolis, Indiana. As Julie’s 56th birthday approached, the couple decided to take a day trip back to Battle Creek and get a pizza at their old haunt.
I can’t possibly describe how delicious this pizza is – but several moves and all these years later, it is still the gold standard and we’ve never found a better pizza yet. Rich has frequently critiqued other pizza as “good but, it’s no Steve’s.”
Unfortunately, the trip had to be cancelled after Rich, who’s battling salivary gland cancer, ended up in the emergency room. There, the family learned he had weeks, possibly days, to live.
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Julie’s dad, David Dalke, knew what a special place their favorite pizza joint held in his daughter’s and son-in-law’s heart, and his heart broke on learning they couldn’t make their long-anticipated trip. So on Saturday evening, he secretly called Steve’s Pizza and “asked if the shop might send a friendly text or card to us,” Julie wrote in a Facebook post.
After hearing some of the backstory, the manager, 18-year-old Dalton Shaffer, decided to go one giant step further and gifted the couple with two 16-inch pizzas – one pepperoni and one pepperoni and mushroom – and offered to deliver it himself.
“Dalton, I want to make sure you know where I’m calling from,” David recalls telling him.
Indianapolis? No worries, they’d just have to tide themselves over with some snacks for a few hours until he could get there.
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And so, while Rich and I slept, at 2:30 AM, Dalton rolled into our driveway, left the car running and delivered two extra special pizzas to my waiting family. He told them we were in his prayers, and offered to help in any way he could. My dad offered to put him up in a hotel, but he refused and immediately left for the return trip home because he had to work the next day.
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“I took a couple 5-hour (energy drinks),” Dalton later said. “I had to, I was super tired, but I made it and that’s what counts. It was worth it. I’m glad I did that.â€
Julie described the entire, heart-warming episode in a Facebook post earlier this week, concluding by saying she’s, “…beyond overwhelmed and humbled by this act of genuine kindness.”
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Dalton brought our family so much joy – and the best pizza in the world – at a really difficult time. While “thank you” hardly seems adequate – from the bottom of my heart, thank you, Dalton from Steve’s Pizza in Battle Creek, MI for making your epic middle of the night pizza delivery!
It’s impossible for a story like this not to go viral, and Dalton says he’s been contacted by numerous people in the days since. His act of kindness has inspired them to do the same, and “I’m just really happy about that.”
Watch the video below to hear more about this remarkable act of kindness, one that was performed when the family needed it the most, and share to inspire more of this selflessness!
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