Free speech group hands out cheesesteaks in Philadelphia to honor First Amendment

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's not every day you get a free lunch, but in South Philly Wednesday nearly 1,800 hundred cheesesteaks were given away for free.

"We got our lunch free," Mo Chandler said. "Yay!"

There's nothing like a Philly cheesesteak, especially when it's free.

"Cheesesteak tastes good," Arthur Brown said.

Pat's and Geno's in South Philly handed out 1,791 free cheesesteaks.

"A very precise number but it has some meaning behind it," Nico Perrino, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said.

The number 1791 indicates the year the First Amendment was ratified. The event, which had made-to-order cheesesteaks and an appearance by founding father Ben Franklin was organized by the group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression or FIRE.

The nonpartisan group says most Americans don't understand the rights granted by the First Amendment.

"Only about 60% of Americans can name even one right protected by the First Amendment," Perrino said. "We need to teach more civics here in the United States."

"Everyone loves a free cheesesteak, so when you hear about that it causes more people to come and know what it's really about," Kennady Gary said.

The First Amendment grants people the right to freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition their government.

"There's nothing as American as free speech and nothing as Philadelphian as cheesesteaks," Perrino said.

"The cheesesteak and the freedom of speech," Fred Dundee said. "It's a beautiful thing."

"So we're embarking on a month-long public education campaign about freedom of speech to educate our colleagues, neighbors, friends and family," Perrino said.

The event was planned as a one-off, but the organization says it was received so well, another event could be planned in the future.

The giveaway started at 11 a.m. and will go on until supplies run out.

In:
• Pennsylvania
• Food & Drink
• First Amendment
• South Philadelphia
• Philadelphia