QUEENS, N.Y., July 16, 2008
Small Kitchen, Big Heart
Legal Immigrant Cooks Meals For 60 Needy Out Of His Tiny New York Apartment
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Jorge Munoz's family cooks meals for 60 people nearly every day out of their small kitchen in Queens, N.Y. (CBS)
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It's not easy cooking dinner for 60 in a cramped kitchen.
But Luz Munoz and her mother, Doris, have a lot of practice. They've done it almost every day - for three years.
In the working-class neighborhood of Queens, New York, when CBS News correspondent Seth Doane went to visit her, he said: "You have rice on your couch. You have hot chocolate piled on the coffee table!"
"Mayonnaise on the bottom of the tables, yes, there's mayonnaise," Luz says.
This all started when Luz's brother Jorge had an idea after he passed a local restaurant that was throwing out food.
A school bus driver, Jorge sees those who "really need it" every day.
"These guys on the street got nothing - I got my family," Jorge said. "I got my mom, my sister, my nephew. I have a house, I have a truck, I have a job."
"You're rich, comparatively," Doane said.
"Compared to them, I'm rich," Jorge said.
But not really. He makes about $650 a week, and says it's a stretch to pay his own bills. But, there's always someone who has it worse.
What did Luz think when Jorge started doing it?
"We said, well, if you want to do it - we're going to help you do it," she said.
Every day, they pack up food, and head across town to a line of people waiting.
For most people there, the meal they receive is the only one they can count on.
The guys standing in line remind Jorge, now a legal immigrant, of himself.
Those who've come for a better life … which is sometimes hard to find.
"How difficult is it to make enough money to eat on your own?" Doane asked Martin Moreno, a day laborer from Mexico.
"It's very difficult because I make $40, $50 a day in a restaurant - and a meal can cost around $20," he said in Spanish.
Meanwhile, Jorge spends about half of his paycheck each week making these meals.
Lately, a local restaurant has started chipping in - and other donations help keep them going.Learn how Seth found and reported this story at Couric & Co. Blog
"Do you worry about where the money is coming from - where you're gonna get the donations, how you're going to keep doing this?"
"Sometimes yes - but if I keep thinking about that - i'm gonna get scared so I just keep it... If I get food for tomorrow... Tomorrow to the next day - the next day," Jorge said.
But tonight, he's more concerned for guys like Ramiro. This is the first meal he's had today. Now, the next worry is, where to sleep.
Jorge hands him $2, just enough to buy a ticket on the New York subway - where he'll try to sleep sitting up.
"What would you have done for food if Jorge hadn't fed you?" Doane asked.
"I would have gone to sleep without having eating anything," Ramiro says.
Nourishing another man today is a victory for Jorge. Doing it all - with just a tiny kitchen and a big heart.
If you'd like to help, or learn more about Jorge's operation, click here.
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Add a Comment See all 11 Comments
- The man is feeding illegal aliens. People who entered this country illegally. Technically they are criminals and so is the guy who feeds them every single night. Thankfully, the people are not on the tax payer''s dole. Anyone who helps Munoz is helping him keep illegal aliens in this country.
What was that Queens, NY street address? Maybe ICE should know. - Reply to this comment
- The man is feeding illegal aliens. People who entered this country illegally. Technically they are criminals and so is the guy who feeds them every single night. Thankfully, the people are not on the tax payer''s dole. Anyone who helps Munoz is helping him keep illegal aliens in this country.
What was that Queens, NY street address? Maybe ICE should know. - Reply to this comment
- fush2 -
Except for Native Americans, most of us are descended from immigrants. This is just the latest installment in the story that is America.
My grandmother''s parents came from the part of Europe that is now the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Bohemia. They were so poor, that my grandmother and her two sisters had one pair of shoes between them. They had to draw straws to see who would wear them. Their father got paid on Friday and they bought food that did not always last until the next Friday. In that case, they went hungry. They depended on the kindness of strangers and local churches.
My grandmother went on to have a great life, and she never forgot how to care for those in need.
Repeat this story millions of times.
God Bless America. - Reply to this comment
- I was very touched by the report, it is absolutly true niether religion nor origins has anything to do with the human touch and feel and consideration for other human beings, God Bless you Jorge,
safa , Kuwait - Reply to this comment
- To Republican: it''s charity.
To Democrats: let''s turn it into welfare.
To Americans: What''s the difference?
What''s the answer: Cancel N.A.F.T.A. get us out of the W.T.O. Shut down the Federal Reserve System, try in court every IMF / WORLD BANK official since its charter and rid mankind of this evil cancer called "globization". - Reply to this comment
- ok is is neccesary to mention that his an immigrant?? thats so stupid...anywayz what his doing is good...not too many people have the heart and the patience to do this
- Reply to this comment
- God Bless this man and his family, for doing such good work. Like the old saying goes charity begins at home.
- Reply to this comment
- Try walmart
- Reply to this comment
- Has anyone tried to send a Costco Card to Mr. Munoz using the link provided? Costco won''t ship to a P.O. Box and I don''t live in an area where there is a Costco. Any thoughts? I would like to help and thought this was the ideal way.
- Reply to this comment
- Has anyone tried to send a Costco Card to Mr. Munoz using the link provided? Costco won''t ship to a P.O. Box and I don''t live in an area where there is a Costco. Any thoughts? I would like to help and thought this was the ideal way.
- Reply to this comment
- Has anyone tried to send a Costco Card to Mr. Munoz using the link provided? Costco won''t ship to a P.O. Box and I don''t live in an area where there is a Costco. Any thoughts? I would like to help and thought this was the ideal way.
- Reply to this comment
