Fire 'N' Dough Wood Fired Pizzas

Fire 'N' Dough Mobile Wood Fired Pizzas - Link to podcast 

Simone and her family from Fire’N’Dough Mobile wood fired Pizzas have supported the salvos by supplying fabulous free pizza to people from the streets of Fortitude valley every month for over 7 years. www.firendough.com.au    This is their story.

When the lovely Sue and I were appointed to the Streetlevel Salvos in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane, every Thursday we had a community meal and often served over 100 people.  It was a lot of work and our cooks and volunteers were amazing to make this happen every week.  

We also had our coffee van out at fetes and festivals and one day our worker Colin, who was a chatty sort of fellow, struck a deal with the wood fire pizza guys next door to our coffee van and did a swap of goods in kind.  Coffee for pizza.  In chatting with Simone from the Fire’N’Dough pizza crew he shared with her about what we do at Streetlevel and mentioned our Thursday night community meal.  As it turns out, Simone was on the lookout for a way for her family and the businness to give back to the community in some way.  

Simone and her husband Stewart had experienced hardship in their lives and at one point were evicted from their home and were doing it really tough, but they are resilient and hardworking sort of people and over time were able to get back on their feet, but it was a real struggle – even with their levels of functionality and support they had behind them.  Simone was moved with compassion when she considered how these challenges would be for families that may have experienced trauma or hardships far greater than she had.  Back in 2014 their mobile wood fire pizza business was small and just starting up but was doing OK and so she offered to come along to the Salvos at Streetlevel and provide free Pizzas for our Thursday dinners, once a month.    

Well it was sensational. The pizzas were top notch and Simone and her delightful family came as a team and all worked hard to serve the hungry folks from the streets of Fortitude Valley.  At the time Jordan was 10, Taylor was 15 and Brooke was 19. As well as wanting to give back, Simone was keen for her kids to see the other side of life and for them be exposed to people who were doing it tough.  

Brooke, the eldest daughter has a condition known as brittle bones and was confined to a wheelchair, but a more cheeky, street smart, bundle of well humored enthusiasm you would never find.   She would serve the pizzas and make sure nobody got more than their fair share.  She was firm but fair and everybody loved her.  This family loved coming along and we loved having them and a beautiful friendship started to blossom.  It took off and for 7 years now Fire’N’Dough Wood fired Pizzas have been a highlight of the week for hundreds of homeless and troubled souls in Fortitude Valley.       

I asked Simone what this project meant for her and her family and was surprised by one of her responses.  As the business grew and they took on more and more staff she invited casual staff to come and volunteer their time at the salvos.  The ones who did volunteer got plenty of paid shifts, but those who didn’t bother, were at the bottom of the list.  She explained that “This is a family company and we want people with the right attitude on our team”  This was her way of sussing out her staff for authentic community spirit.  

Simone and her crew have helped out at a number of special events; for example they were at the finish line for the Nanna Fittys Fruitcake Cycling Club’s ride from Sydney to Brisbane and fed over 200 people.  We had the Fire’N’Dough team at our daughters 21st birthday party and whenever I see Simone we hug like brother and sister.  It’s lovely.

There is a fabulous spirit of generosity and love in this family and this is not just mushy sentiment, they work hard and pay all the expenses for this act of kindness and have done so very month for many years.  My heart is warmed and my hope in humanity is lifted as I tell this story.  It gives me confidence to set stuff like this up again and trust that the resources we need to feed and care for people, will come as God has positioned people all over the place to be His hands and feet in this world.  

I’m so grateful to Simone and the crew for this amazing support and have not minded polishing off hundreds of slices of magnificent Pizza too much either.

Bless ya,