A good samaritan has taken it upon himself and his volunteers to provide meals to the homeless in the Tian Delong (Tenderloin) District in downtown San Francisco.
George Lam, head of the L.F. George Christian Foundation, has been independently funding over a hundred lunchboxes in the area daily since the start of the year.
From Monday-Saturday at around 1 p.m., members of his volunteer team distribute about 120 hot meals to the homeless in just 15 minutes. In addition to the meals, the volunteers also distributed water and masks to the meal recipients for some protection against the spread of COVID-19.
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It is hard daily work that goes unnoticed for most in the city, but means a great deal to those it feeds every day.
Volunteers spend two hours cooking and packing every morning to keep the meals warm and fresh for the people. A meal box typically includes bread, carrots, broccoli, fried chicken, and condiments.
While the elderly philanthropist admits that there is not enough to feed all the homeless in the area, he intends to continue the daily meal delivery for the hundred or more needy people throughout the year.
According to him, it is his team’s way of expressing their love to the homeless population in the community. He noted that those who have been receiving lunch for a long time even try to express their thanks in Chinese, a gesture that makes him very happy.
Lam’s generosity goes back years. In the past few years, he has previously joined the Salvation Army and the Christ Church of Bay Area to distribute meals to low-income communities on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. After a joint project that provided meals to the homeless one day a week with the Salvation Army last year, Lam decided to do more by making the meal delivery on a daily basis this year.
Feature Image supplied by L.F. George Christian Foundation
