Slice of home: Former Windsor resident gets special pizza delivery to northern Ont. to boost cancer battle

Windsor community rallies to deliver 'a slice of home' to Sault man Dallas Reed after his Facebook pizza craving sparks support for his cancer-stricken father.

Usually, pizza delivery is limited to a community’s city limits. But an extraordinary exception was made for one Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., man, whose family was going through a difficult time.

Dallas Reed made a casual Facebook post about missing the pizza in his hometown of Windsor. That’s when things took on a life of their own, beginning with an offer to deliver him some ‘Detroit-style’ pizza turned into thousands in donations for his sick father.

Reed’s social media post inquired about a new pizza spot in Windsor. Then the owner of the Windsor Food Spotters Facebook page offered to bring him his beloved Detroit-style pie -- where he learned that the timing for this act of kindness couldn’t be better.

Reed’s father had recently undergone a 15-hour surgery for Stage 4 cancer.

“It’s a very rare cancer,” Dallas said.

“They said they’ve only seen it in 200 people in the U.S. -- and it’s even rarer than that.”

Shawn Rizk from Windsor Food Spotters rallied the community around the story, with businesses donating all types of Windsor food essentials, as well as thousands of dollars in cash and gift cards.

“It was incredible to see the overwhelming support from the businesses and everybody throw their hat in,” Rizk said.

“This is a prime example of how when there’s something good to be done in the City of Windsor, the whole city pitches in.”

Dallas said the generosity shown to his family had a big impact.

“It means so much to have your hometown -- your whole hometown -- basically behind you,” he said.

“You can’t get any better than that. Like, what’s better than a slice of home when you’re going through something, you know what I mean?”

After collecting the donations, Rizk and his team made the trip to the hospital in Sudbury to meet Dallas and his family and hand over the truckload of items.

“The conversation that I had with Dallas, with his dad, was incredibly emotional,” Rizk said.

“Being able to sit next to him and show him, basically, the journey that we went through on the phone and show all these people that support (them).”

“My mom and my dad, they were in tears of joy,” Dallas said.

“They were just so happy to have something like this happen and like it almost feels like a miracle, you know.”

Dallas’ father, Chris, will soon be out of the intensive care unit and on his way to better health. Once he’s able to, the family plans to return to the Rose City and personally thank those who supported them in their time of need.