From CNN:
Every day, unemployed men gather under the elevated 7 train in
Jackson Heights, Queens. Many of them are homeless. All of them are
hungry. Jorge Munoz estimates he has served more than 70,000 free meals since 2004.
Watching Munoz, 44, distribute meals and offer extra cups of coffee,
it's clear he's passionate about bringing food to hungry people. For
more than four years, Munoz and his family have been feeding those in
need seven nights a week, 365 days a year. To date, he estimates he's
served more than 70,000 meals. Word of his mobile soup kitchen has spread, and people of all
backgrounds and status now join the largely-Hispanic crowd surrounding
his truck -- Egyptians, Chinese, Ethiopians, South Asians, white and
black Americans and a British man who lost his job
"I'll help anyone who needs to eat. Just line up," Munoz says. And at a time when food banks are struggling to keep up with
skyrocketing demand, he's never been needed more. But for Munoz, a
school bus driver by day, this work is a labor of love. "When I see these guys on the street," he says, "it's like seeing me, 20-something years ago when I came to this country."
Munoz began his unorthodox meal program -- now his nonprofit, An Angel in Queens
-- in the summer of 2004. Friends told him about large amounts of food
being thrown away at their jobs. At first, he collected leftovers from
local businesses and handed out brown bag lunches to underprivileged
men three nights a week. Within a few months, Munoz and his mother were
preparing 20 home-cooked meals daily. Numbers gradually
increased over the years to 35 per night, then 60. In recent months,
that number has jumped to as many as 140 meals a night.
Sustaining this endeavor consumes most of his life. To his mother's
dismay, his family's Woodhaven home is bursting with goods related to
this work. An oversize freezer takes up most of the dining room, and
the porch is lined with canned food and paper products.
Daily
operations now run like a well-oiled machine. Munoz gets up around 5:00
a.m. to drive his bus route, and he calls home on his breaks to see how
the cooking is going. When he gets home around 5:30 p.m. -- often
stopping to pick up food donations -- he helps pack up meals before
heading out to "his corner" in Jackson Heights. "He comes here without fail," says one of the men. "It could be cold, it could be really hot, but he's here."
On Saturdays he takes the men breakfast, and on Sundays -- his "day
off" -- he brings them ham-and-cheese sandwiches. It's a relentless
schedule, but either Munoz or his sister does it every night of the
year. "If I don't go, I'm going to feel bad," he says. "I know they're going to be waiting for me."
With the economic downturn,
donations have slowed as the crowds awaiting Munoz's arrival have
grown. But he is determined to do all he can to meet their needs. Munoz estimates that food and gas cost approximately $400 to 450 a
week; he and his family are funding the operation through their savings
and his weekly $700 paycheck.
Asked why he spends so much time to help
people he doesn't know, he answers, "I have a stable job, my mom, my
family, a house... everything I want, I have. And these guys [don't].
So I just think, 'OK, I have the food.' At least for today they're
going to have a meal to eat."
Jorge Munoz is a true example of being the difference! Do you know someone who is being the difference in your community? Tell me about them and they may be featured on this blog.
