City receives $25,000 ‘Plowing for Pizza’ grant

If Mother Nature happens to have a change of heart, and the Rhinelander area receives a heaping helping of fresh snow in the near future, the city’s plow truck drivers will be ready, thanks to Domino’s Pizza.

The City of Rhinelander has received a $25,000 grant from the pizza company after nearly 100 people nominated the city as part of the restaurant chain’s “Plowing for Pizza” program.

“Domino’s believes nothing should stand in the way of carrying out a hot delicious pizza in Rhinelander, including snowy, cold weather,” company officials said in a press release announcing the grant. “In an effort to go above and beyond for pizza lovers across the country, Domino’s is awarding half a million dollars across 20 cities to support snow plowing efforts so that carryout customers can have access to hot pizza, even on the coldest, snowiest days. As part of this national initiative, the city of Rhinelander has been selected to receive a $25,000 snow plowing grant.”

 The Rhinelander common council formally accepted the grant during its Feb. 12 meeting. At the time, city administrator Patrick Reagan noted the lack of snow on the ground (a situation that has not changed as the area continues to experience a very mild winter) and advised that the funds could be used to purchase equipment.

“We’ll do with it what we can,” he said. “They do want pictures of our guys removing snow so I’m not exactly sure how we’re going to tackle that but we’ll figure it out somehow. It’s a great opportunity. We appreciate those that nominated the city and we appreciate Domino’s. $25,000, you can’t sneeze at that.”

According to Domino’s, communities receiving Plowing for Pizza grants were selected from an open call for nominations by the public via Plowingforpizza.com, where users submit nominations with a zip code and email address. 

“Grant offers are made based on a cluster of nominated zip codes surrounding a municipality where snowfall tends to be plentiful,” the release states. “The presence of a Domino’s store in the area is also considered. As a chosen municipality, Rhinelander will be listed on the Plowing for Pizza website, which will also feature images and footage from other plowing locations across the country.

“At Domino’s we’ve made delivery cars with warming ovens built in, paved roads to get your pizza home smoothly in perfect, hot condition, and offered pizza insurance for when that goes awry,” said Joe Jordan, Domino’s president of U.S. and global services. “To us, nothing should stand in the way of getting a delicious pizza, including snowy, cold weather. So, yes — you heard it right: a pizza company is actually helping to plow roads.”

According to Reagan, the funds must be utilized prior to the end of April 2024.