Cancer Patient Won Free Pizza for a Year, Donated It All to a Food Bank

A man in Pennsylvania currently undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer recently won a competition for a year’s worth of pizza and donated it all to a local food bank.

Josh Katrick was selected out of 1,200 contestants to receive two large pizzas and a large soda every month for a year from his local pizzeria, Mario’s Pizza, but he instead decided to gift the prize to a Northampton food bank. “You know the saying, ‘When life gives you lemons make lemonade,’” Katrick told CNN, “well, when life gives you pizza, give away a slice.”

“I thought someone would win, they’d be excited, come in and get their pizzas, but a story like this to come out of a contest like that … ” said Giuseppe Aiello, the son of the pizzeria’s owner, to Northampton’s WFMZ. “It’s better to give than receive, and especially during this time of year—Christmas.”

Katrick said he was inspired to give away the prize by the kindness he’s received during his cancer treatments. “After everything I went through these last few months—I met so many people and have been receiving so much—I felt I wanted to give back,” he said. In light of Katrick’s kindness, the pizzeria doubled the prize so Katrick could get his share of pizza, too, but even that he doesn’t plan to keep for himself. “Maybe I’ll share with my friends on Facebook [and] make a contest of my own to see if anyone would like some pizza.”