Pittsburgh Steelers buy dinner for workers at ballot-counting site

The Pittsburgh Steelers catered dinner for workers at a ballot-counting site in Allegheny County, Pa., on Wednesday.  

Multiple players from the team purchased dinners for the workers from a company called The Goose Express, ESPN reported.

Allegheny County thanked the team for “chicken, rigatoni, veggies, rolls, pies and more” on Twitter on Thursday as workers in the critical battleground state continue to tally votes. 

Thank you, ⁦@steelers⁩, for your kindness. Chicken, rigatoni, veggies, rolls, pies and more! We’re grateful for the wonderful food from ⁦@TheGooseExpress⁩ pic.twitter.com/1KWs6E2Zeg

— Allegheny County (@Allegheny_Co) November 5, 2020

Did we mention that the @steelers sent pie? PIE!!! pic.twitter.com/uSG2xM1T3X

— Allegheny County (@Allegheny_Co) November 5, 2020

“We figured it was a good opportunity to help them give back,” Goose Express employee Amanda Wood, who had delivered the food, told CNN. She added that the workers, who were sent enough to feed 65 people, were “so grateful” after receiving the dinner.

County spokesperson Amie Downs told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the gesture is “very nice, very appreciated” and that “We’ve been working very long hours, so for them to have thought of us is very kind.”

No Steelers were present at the warehouse where workers are counting ballots, though linebacker Vince Williams shared the news with an emoji on Twitter. 

https://t.co/OE3f7g0zYv

— Vince Williams (@VinnyVidiVici98) November 5, 2020

Vote counting was paused in Allegheny County until Friday after a federal court ordered approximately 29,000 ballots be set aside until after Pennsylvania’s deadline to receive mail-in ballots for the 2020 election.

The move stems from an incident in which a vendor sent ballots with wrong information to thousands of people. The ballots were reissued, but the court called on the returned ballots to be set aside in the process of ensuring there are no duplicates. 

President Trump is leading Democratic nominee Joe Biden by approximately 100,000 votes in Pennsylvania, according to The Associated Press. Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar vowed Thursday that the “overwhelming majority” of ballots in the state will be counted by the end of the day.