HELL’s North and South Dunedin stores warmed bellies and raised smiles by dishing up more than 100 free pizzas to wet and cold emergency service workers, as they battled serious flooding. On 3 June, from 4am, about 175mm of rain fell on the city over 24 hours. The deluge left a huge job for the region’s emergency services, so HELL franchisee Sylvia Ledgerwood decided to offer free pizza and a hot drink to all those stuck out in the cold.
“There was absolute chaos just around the corner from our South Dunedin store,” Sylvia said. “But both our stores were dry, and the staff were happy to work, so I made the call to open up and do what we could to help.” Drenched emergency service workers from the Police, Fire Service, St. John and community patrols were delighted to take advantage of Sylvia’s generous offer. “Everyone outside was saturated. The Fire Service was able to get hot pizza out to the people who really needed it.” Much of South Dunedin was underwater by Wednesday evening. The interior of the HELL store thankfully stayed dry, but Sylvia did have to take to the carpark wall with a sledgehammer to allow flood water to escape. Sylvia was glad that she and her team were able to help those who were doing so much to help the residents of Dunedin. “Emergency services had a lot of people out in the wet keeping people safe. That job must be really hard, so it was great to give them something warm to put in their bellies,” said Sylvia. Photo: Otago Daily Times
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