Take a slice, give a slice; Delta pizza serves up “dough”-nations

      Driving through the small town of Delta, patrons may not notice too many things going on, but those may be surprised to find out that Delta Pizza and DP Lounge has a spark that will change their perspective.  

     The restaurant has hosted a multitude of family-friendly events, arose from the ashes of a fire that burned the walls down in a blink of an eye with a grand re-opening, and has even been nominated for the Reader’s Digest’s “Nicest Place in America” award.  

     For a town that almost never seems to get much attention, Delta Pizza continually proves the skepticism wrong.  

     Owner Sal Ferranti says the restaurant’s story began by accidentally getting lost. “I came from Italy with my family when I was a teenager, in 1984.  We were always in the restaurant business, even back home, and when we came to America, we began our stay in New Jersey,” Sal continued, “when we arrived, we didn’t speak a lick of English and we were looking for other people who spoke Italian, which we shortly found out were nowhere to be found around us.”  

     Sal and his family packed up their bags and headed to Baltimore to begin anew and hopefully find those who were similar.  

     “The rumor was that, in Little Italy in Baltimore, there were a lot of people who spoke our language,” Sal says, “when we found out that that wasn’t true, we started to travel back to New Jersey, took a couple wrong turns, and ended up here in Delta, which at the time, we thought was still New Jersey.”  

    For some time, the restaurant has implemented a donation program that enables customers to donate a dollar, or a few, to the shop in exchange for a piece of paper money being hung on the wall that quotes “Take a Dollar, Leave a Dollar Slice,” for anyone to take off the wall and use to pay for a slice of pizza if they need it, and according to Sal, he has seen a great response from both ends of the spectrum.  

     The idea came to Sal’s mind on a day in which he was the one in need, “I was at a convenience store buying something to eat and didn’t have enough change to cover the entire cost, so the cashier offered to use what change was left in their ”take a penny, leave a penny” jar,” Sal reminisced, “it was one of the nicest things and I thought “what if I was really hungry but I didn’t have any money at all?” This situation inspired me to start a “take a dollar, leave a dollar” donation for anyone who was in need.” 

     Sal prefers the attention to be placed on how tremendous the community has been in helping out those who, unfortunately, may be stuck in a hard time, whether they can help it or not.  

     “Everybody has something to give.  Everybody is here for a reason. Maybe my reason is to provide someone with something to eat.  Maybe someone else’s reason is to guide somebody in life that needs direction,” Sal continued, “the little things matter. I don’t really think that it’s about me or you, but it’s about us.  Everybody needs that recognition in the world, as we are all alike. We are here to shine our light for somebody.”  

     Delta Pizza is decorated in American flags, that also hang in various parts of the town thanks to Sal’s father, and even has designated parking spots for veterans who have served the country.  

     “We try to include the little things that could brighten up somebody’s day or remind them of their importance,” Sal explains, “we, as a community, have to concentrate on what we can possibly do to make life a little bit better for somebody else. And, once you figure out what light you can be, life is worth living.”