A Meal They Can Count On
One of my producers, Alberto Moya, found this wonderful story of Jorge Munoz and his unwavering determination to offer help to some folks that are struggling in his community of Queens, N.Y.
The mission behind these "Other America" stories is to chronicle the tough economic times more and more Americans for facing. This story shows one part of "The Other America" helping another part of "The Other America."
Jorge Munoz is hardly wealthy. As a school bus driver he makes just more than $600 a week when he has work. Jorge says it's a stretch to cover his own bills. But for the last three years – yes, three (!) – he has been using upwards of half of his own paycheck to buy food for those less fortunate than he is.
His mother and sister help by both contributing to help cover food costs and by cooking the food almost every day in their tiny kitchen.
Jorge says he's always been a religious man and he told me a number of times that he believes that God has put him here to help folks who are struggling even more than he is. He counts on donations to help put food on the table each night for the 60 to 70 day laborers (and homeless) that he feeds every night out of the back of his truck. A local restaurant has been pitching in, as have other donors and friends. If you want to help, you can find out more on Jorge's Web site.
I enjoyed working on this story because is shows just how much we can do to help others even if seems like we don't have much to offer. Sometimes, it seems, it's those with the least …who have the desire to help the most.
