S: Is for silent angels

There are people who make me glad that I am on the planet with them. Jorge Munoz is one of them. I read about him on CNN and needed to share his story. He makes a weekly paycheck of $700 as a bus driver, but he spends approximately $400 to 450 a week on gas and food. He feeds the hungry and has been since 2004. Every day, unemployed men gather under the elevated 7 train in Jackson Heights, Queens. Many of them are homeless. All of them are hungry. At around 9:30 each night, Munoz's and his white pickup truck, deliver hot food, coffee and hot chocolate. Chicken and rice and for many, this is their only hot meal of the day; for some, it's the first food they've eaten since last night. 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. "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. "When I see these guys on the street, it's like seeing me, 20-something years ago when I came to this country." Born in Colombia his father died in an accident when he was young. When his mother found it difficult to support Munoz and his sister, she made her way to New York, finding work in Brooklyn as a nanny. At her urging, Munoz followed in her footsteps, coming to the United States in the 1980s. "She said this was a better future for us." Munoz obtained legal residency in 1987 and became a citizen, along with his mother and sister. He never stood on a street corner to find work, but as an immigrant, he identifies with many of the men he feeds. Munoz began his unorthodox meal program when 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, now it is over 140 meals a night. 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. 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 economic stimulus plans helping everyone but who needs it. It is comforting to know that Jorge Munoz exists and that is a F.A.C.T.