Hands-on food of the hungry is the hope of poverty : concept of homelessness

A Miami custodian has fed thousands of hungry people for free since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic just because it seems like the right thing to do.

Doramise Moreau, a 60-year-old widow who lives with her children, a nephew and three grandchildren, manages to cook 1,000 meals a week for the hungry while also working as a part-time school custodian, the Associated Press reports.

Moreau cooks meals of chicken, turkey, dried beans, yellow rice and spices for free with the help of Notre Dame d'Haiti Catholic Church, which pays for the food using donation money. Not only does Moreau do the cooking, but she also takes the church truck to buy the groceries every Thursday and Friday. Other church volunteers then serve or deliver the food to those who cannot leave their home.

Moreau's love and empathy has been apparent since her childhood in Haiti. The young Moreau would sift through her parents' kitchen to grab rice, beans, and maybe some onion and corn that she would cook up and give to the poor. Moreau said the act would get her in great trouble with her mother, but she continued to do it anyway. 

Moreau still gives back to Haiti. She uses some of the little money she makes to buy pallets of food that she sends back to her family and neighbors still living in her childhood village.

In addition to her cooking, Moreau prepares a type of Haitian hot tea before work. The tea is given out to church staff, police and leaders in her community. 

Moreau was recently treated with something for all of her love and hard work. The significant gift was a new Toyota Corolla from the Martin Luther King Economic Development Corporation, which helps finance cars for community service providers through grants. Moreau has to pay $125 a month towards the car for three years, then it's totally hers.

Now, Moreau can report for her custodial shifts without having to take the bus to work.