Pizza Gives Kids Incentive

By a Grateful Teacher

One thousand pounds of hand-made dough, gallons upon gallons of special homemade tomato sauce, kosher mozzarella cheese by the bucket multiplied by several hundred. Mix the ingredients together, throw em’ into a brick-oven and what do you get?

Well, if you were me, probably a fire in your kitchen, sticky children, and new shalom bayis issues. But what if you weren’t me? What if you were the owner of a world-famous kosher pizza restaurant located in Crown Heights?
And say you had visitors from all corners of the world throughout the year?

I’ll just say it: What if you were Avremel Lokshin and Nachi Light of Pomodori Pizza?

In that case, all the dough, all the sauce, all the mozzarella cheese should translate into a pretty penny; wouldn’t you think? After all 2500 slices is a real “Pizza the action” (sorry for the cheesy pizza pun—oh gosh, I did it again) My point is, 2500 slices of pizza + 2500 drinks + all those ingredients not to mention the manpower it took to make the pizza should “rake in a considerable amount of dough” (promise—that was the last pizza pun.)

But not for Avremel and Nachi. You see, at the end of the last school year, the man with a kind neshoma and a heart of gold spearheaded a pilot program in which thousands of children would be challenged to outdo their own expectations, to one-up themselves in matters of Avodas Hashem and refining their own middos. Easier said than done.

That’s where Avremel Lokshin and his son-in-law, Nachi Light, stepped in.

They had just the thing! If anyone can get a kid excited, it’s the Pizza Man. “The Pizza Man Can. The Pizza Man Can.”

Lokshin and Light see hundreds and thousands of children walk through the doors to his Kingston Avenue eatery each year. They take in the warm aroma, they smile, they giggle with anticipation, and they don’t leave leftovers. So naturally, in the “Pizza Man’s” eyes, the carrot of choice to propel children was a good ole’ fashioned slice.

And here’s how it worked: Every Rebbe or teacher of grades 1-4 over the span of eight schools were given a total of five vouchers, each week of the year to hand out to students in their class who pushed themselves to grow.

“The uniqueness of this program was that sometimes, a child might feel like there’s no way in the world he can rise to the top of the class. And therein lies the beauty of Lokshin’s and Light’s program,” a grateful teacher said. “It gives the students a feeling of—Go for the gold, but even if you don’t win a medal, just for trying, here’s a Pizza and a soda to reward your well-recognized efforts.”

On behalf of the students of Lubavitcher Yeshiva Crown Street, Ohelei Torah, Ohr Menachem President Street, Cheder at the Ohel, Lubavitcher Yeshiva Ocean Parkway, Bnos Menachem, Beis Rivkah, and Beis Chaya Mushka we say thank you for being there, thank you for caring. You may not be aware, but you provided more than just a drink and a slice to these kids. You gave them self-esteem, and the ability to access a power to progress that most students never knew they possessed until the carrot started to dangle.

Thank You, and may Hashem bless you, your families, and loved ones with only nachas and simchas in good health!