World's Biggest "Human Pizza" Record Broken At Hunger Awareness Day

The record was broken during a community hunger awareness event made possible by a number of local businesses, volunteers and entertainers.

By Lauren Costa in the Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch

At the 7th Annual Hunger Awareness Day event on June 6 at Marina Park in South Kingstown, the public was invited to break the previous record for the World’s Biggest Human Pizza. The record was set at last year’s Hunger Awareness Day when 152 people showed up dressed in “pizza colors” and were documented in a photo taken by Don Bousquet & Son Aerial Photography.

"We’re proud to announce we’ve beaten our own record when 174 people participated this year!" said Spokesperson and President of the End Hunger Foundation, Steve Maciel. "Rhode Island has a long heritage with pizza. Grilled pizza was first introduced here and Travel & Leisure magazine recently voted Providence second best Pizza in America. And now, RI will be always be known as the home of the World's Biggest Human Pizza!"

Hunger Awareness Day is coordinated by the Hunger Task Force, an initiative of the Jonnycake Center of Peace Dale. Over a dozen local pizzerias and ice cream stores generously donated free pizza and ice cream and live music was provided by South County’s favorite rockers, the Westmoreland Street Jammers. The performers are members of the ‘1 of 52’ Hunger Network, a national grassroots network of musicians, artists and everyday people using their unique talents in one week a year to help end hunger.

The event included activities for children, informational booths, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach and information.

"We're working to make a connection between locally sourced products as pizza ingredients and toppings to tie it with the local food movement, improving our local economy and the goal of creating food secure communities," said Maciel. "We also issue a challenge to other hunger organizations to try and beat our record."

The event was free of charge, but attendees were asked to bring donations of non-perishable food to benefit the Jonnycake Center of Peace Dale’s emergency food pantry.

Visit www.jonnycakecenter.org for more information.