Alexis Everett

Compassion is rooted in Alexis Everett’s family tree. Her grandmother, Corey Miller, who died in August, helped start the nonprofit Interim in the ’70s. She eventually served as Interim’s community housing director, supporting people with mental illness in Monterey County by providing housing, counseling and job-training to get on their feet.

“She inspires me to be a better person,” Everett says.

That’s what she hopes her sons, Nicodemus, 14, and Soren, 11, also learn. She wants them to grow to be “thoughtful, good, helpful, loving men.” Five years ago, Everett and her husband, Monty, wanted to do something their boys could adopt as their own custom of kindness.

That has taken shape in a simple but meaningful family tradition. They settled on pizza – a meal that comes in a box, like a gift you can wrap a big red bow around.

On Jan. 1, 2011, they bought 50 medium pepperoni pizzas from Domino’s in Pacific Grove and distributed them to homeless people. (The pizzeria threw in five extra pies, another tradition that has continued.)

It’s evolved into a group Everett calls Peace, Love & Pizza. The Weekly spoke with Everett as she and her family prepare for their annual Jan. 1 pizza distribution to talk about the power of small-scale giving.

Weekly: How did you map out your route?

Everett: We started in Pacific Grove. The first year, I remember walking out and there was a homeless guy sitting right in front of the pizza place. I handed him the pizza and said, “Happy New Year!” He immediately started eating and I remember my youngest son saying, “Look mom, he’s eating right away. He was starving, we’ve got to feed more people.” So we did that. We went from P.G. to Monterey, to Seaside, Marina, then Santa Cruz. It’s an all-day thing.

What do you have planned this year?

I’m trying to get more help this year. Hopefully through donations we can get toothbrushes, toothpaste, gloves and bottles of water. We’ll wrap those up and give them out with the pizzas. I have my kids making cards this year, too.

What have you learned through delivering pizza to the homeless?

All these people, they were all someone’s baby once. And at some point, someone gave up on them. That is heartbreaking. I’ve learned, don’t give up on your family. When you give up on people, that’s where it all goes wrong.

I’ve also watched my kids build up a certain amount of compassion for people. We just went to Subway and I was getting them both sandwiches. There was a homeless guy out front and Soren says, “Can’t we get him a sandwich too?” I told him, “We don’t have enough money to get him a sandwich today.” “Well maybe just a bag of chips,” he says. And that just touches my heart that he already wants to help.

Why should people get involved?

If you just donate $5, you will have bought a pizza for someone. You don’t have to give a lot of money. It’s the price of a cappuccino. That is so cool to me.

It doesn’t take much. That’s what I’m trying to let people know.

What do people misunderstand about homelessness?

There’s a lot of mental illness. And that this goes right back to my Nana – that’s what she did, that was her life.

What’s your idea of the perfect pizza?

Dang. A pesto, mozzarella, artichoke, olive, grilled onion, bacon pizza delivered to a homeless person. That’s the perfect pizza, delivered on a nice, bright day to someone who really needed it to maybe change their life that day.

Do you do anything else to help feed the hungry throughout the year?

Every Monday morning, I help deliver free fresh baked goods to local families who need them.

Why is the pizza-delivery tradition important?

It’s important for my children to know about service in the community, to share their service with other kids so their friends know small things can make a difference. On a larger scale, it’s important because we need to help people eat. We have the resources, we have the time. And it’s important because there are people out there that are hungry and it’s important to feed them. People are hungry.

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