How about a feel-good story? Delta, Pennsylvania lies in extreme southern York County. Amish live in two places in the county – five or six church districts lying across the Susquehanna river (technically part of the Lancaster County settlement), and a separate stand-alone community.

It turns out local Amish have been glad for the generosity of one area business owner. From Reader’s Digest:

In 2013, right before Christmas, Delta Pizza burned to the ground. It was a big deal in the tiny hamlet of Delta, Pennsylvania. The remote town of some 700 people on the Maryland border doesn’t have a lot of options when it comes to where to eat.

Then, something magical happened.

“We’re cleaning up and I heard this noise outside, like a train was coming through,” says Sal Ferranti, the owner since his father, Guiseppe, died in 1999. “It was 30 Amish men in buggies. They helped for one day with the demolition of the building.”

As it turns out, they were just returning the favor. For years, Sal had been making sure that extra food from catering jobs would make it to Amish folks who needed it.

Two years later, Delta Pizza reopened. Since then, Sal has been repaying the kindness in his own way:

So after Delta Pizza’s grand reopening in 2015, Sal knew what he had to do. Each year he chooses a different Amish family who helped with the demolition and spends two hard days laboring on their farm, picking tomatoes or tobacco, or whatever they need done.

“They were so giving and so helping, I have to give back to them, to everyone who helped,” Sal says.

Sal has an inspirational immigrant story which saw his father found the business in 1983 in a place which lacked Italian dining options. It sounds like the man is appreciated around the community. Says one Facebook commenter:

“Sal is so generous. If weather is bad he makes sure the kids have a place to go, if school is let out early and parents can’t be home. He welcomes anyone who loses power in a storm and needs a place to go. He makes sure our seniors are never without food. His generosity is amazing. I’m proud to call him a friend.”

I’ve visited the Amish parts of York County before, but never made it down to Delta Pizza. Might be worth a trip!

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