Matt Tribe hands out free Olive Garden meals. (YouTube/1800Tribe)
A lucky recipient of a Never Ending Pasta Pass decided to pay it forward by giving out most of his meals to Salt Lake City’s homeless and friends, reports Fox 13.
Unlike some who used the pass to carbo-load for nearly two months, Matt Tribe of Ogden, Utah spent seven weeks delivering pasta meals to friends, neighbors and local homeless people through a project he dubbed “Random Acts of Pasta.”
“Every day I’d go get pasta, and I’d just go show up and [sic] someone’s house and brighten their life with some Olive Garden,” Tribe told Fox 13.
Tribe was the recipient of one of 1,000 Never Ending Pasta Pass cards from Olive Garden which granted owners unlimited meals at the chain for seven weeks-- all for $100. Tribe was originally looking forward to enjoying the meals by himself but realized he could spread a little joy throughout the neighborhood. He reportedly got the ok from the chain to make sure he could use the pass for take-out orders.
“It was super fulfilling because the entire time I was doing this for a month, just about every night, the only thing I was thinking about was who could I take Olive Garden to, who could I do Random Acts of Pasta to, who could I do something nice for,” Tribe said.
At the end of seven weeks, Tribe says he has given away 125 meals, surpassing his original goal of 100. He ate just 14 pasta dishes himself during the promotion.
Ben Taylor, a friend of Tribe’s, documented the various surprise pasta giftings on YouTube. The pair also kept a blog that details every recipient and date of meal delivery.
“You forget about all your worries, you forget about all your troubles,” says Tribe. “Everything’s better.”
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