A crowdsourced campaign to feed 150 homeless at City Hall

If Jason Pinardo has his way, 150 homeless people will soon be feasting in the City Hall courtyard.

Pinardo, 41, launched a GoFundMe campaign Monday to raise $20,000 for a one-night pop-up restaurant for Philadelphia's homeless. In two days, he has raised more than $9,000.

His biggest donor is longtime family friend Frank Olivieri, owner of Pat's King of Steaks, who contributed $2,000. "We need to take care of our own," Olivieri said. "A lot of people in this country need our help, and on a smaller scale, there are people in this neighborhood who need our help. . . . We too often overlook that we need to give back."

Olivieri says he's willing to "work in any capacity possible" to help the cause, whether that's setting up chairs or cooking food or getting other local chefs involved. To start, he's posting a link to the GoFundMe campaign on the Pat's Steaks website. His sister Danielle also donated $200 to the campaign, and the total number of donors has climbed to more than 200.

"I didn't expect this to happen at this pace," said Pinardo, a South Philadelphia native and Temple University graduate with a degree in film and media arts. "Right now, I'm just trying to keep up with everyone's enthusiasm."

On his GoFundMe page, Pinardo breaks down the $20,000 he hopes to raise: $7,500 for 150 winter coats ($50 each); $6,000 for food at $40 per person; $3,000 for $20 Visa gift cards; and other payments for liability insurance, decorations, location rental, DJ/entertainment, and even small toiletry bags.

Pinardo had the idea when he came across a YouTube video of a similar project in Atlanta. With production credits in films including National Treasure and Taken 3, Pinardo is "treating this like any other project."

"I'm used to being in charge of a staff of 100 to 150 people and moving a small army around from city to city," he said.

Even with his film background, Pinardo doesn't imagine the endeavor will be easy to pull off. He needs to find homeless people to attend, which he hopes to accomplish by contacting local homeless shelters. Pinardo's dream is to host the affair in the City Hall courtyard, but he thinks he might not get permission.

"It's possible," said Jennifer Crandall of the mayor's press office. But there would be a lot of red tape involved; Pinardo would need a license to serve food and permission from the mayor's Office of Public Property or Office of Special Events. Because SEPTA lines exit into the courtyard, he'd have to involve SEPTA in the process as well.

Pinardo knows his plan is not a life-changer.

"We're not crazy. . . . They're still going to be homeless at the end of the day, but if we can for a moment let them know that somebody cares and they can hold onto that . . . it hopefully starts to help them get back on their feet," Pinardo said.

"Idealistic? Probably. Unrealistic? Probably. At least I can say I tried."

jcastellano@phillynews.com

215-854-2823

@jill_castellano