The San Diego based Burrito Boyz have been serving up hot meals to the homeless of San Diego for years now. So far, they’ve served up 132,000 meals for the needy of the area.
The group of kids, teens and young adults, started in 2010, with momentum gathering in 2011. They’ve been featured more than once on their local news outlet and in their local paper. In 2013, they were featured on the Queen Latifah Show and in January, 2014, had a full page spread in People Magazine. They’ve also made appearances in the Huffington Post and on Yahoo News, to name a few.
Michael Johnson founded the organization with his family in order to both help the local community while teaching his children and their friends gratitude and empathy. San Diego has one of the nation’s largest homeless populations in the United States, and the kids of Burrito Boyz are proud to help serve them.
The group, comprised of kids (of both genders, despite the name) aged 10 to 18, gathers every Sunday morning around 4:30AM to start making their burritos. It takes until just before 7AM for the group to finish their batch of 600 for the homeless.
Once finished, they drive to two destinations in San Diego where homeless most frequent. In addition to handing out the delicious burritos they’ve lovingly made by hand, they distribute a wide variety of products from feminine hygiene to books to pet food.
The Burrito Boyz also stay abreast on the latest resources for homeless people and collect pamphlets and information to hand out along with their meal. In this way, they’re not just giving out food, but also a bit of hope as well.
Johnson says of his organization:
“It’s just bringing hope, dignity and respect to a community that gets very little of it. And by working with the community … it makes every person that comes and volunteers with us, a little more appreciative of what they have.”
The Burrito Boyz say that one of the best parts of the service they do is the connections they make with many of the homeless people. As many return each week, they often become friends. In some cases, some end up volunteering for the organization, helping other people in need.
Sources:
The Burrito Boyz