Story posted Thursday, July 2, 2009
Evans, Plane Full of Pizza, Beer, Head To Middle East
The same week that United States forces pulled back from cities in Iraq, troops will enjoy Chicago-style deep-dish pizza thanks to the efforts of an Elk Grove Village resident.
Former U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. and Elk Grove native Mark Evans is in the Middle East bringing a full planeload of Chicago-style pizza and beer to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to celebrate the Fourth of July in what he dubs "Operation Pizza Surge."
DHL shipping filled a cargo plane with 28,000 Uno deep-dish pizzas and 8,000 cases of beer for the troops. Evans said his goal is to bring pizza and beer to every forward operating base in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Last week, Evans boarded a plane bound for Iraq with Uno Pizza CEO Frank Guidara to personally serve troops.
Uno provided pizzas charging Evans' Pizzas 4 Patriots group just the cost to produce the pies.
The Chicago Bears organization will be sending football paraphernalia along with another Evans pizza delivery to the Middle East later this year for troops as they watch the Super Bowl.
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