Richard Untalan of the Compadres Mall donated five cases of chicken to Yigo Mayor Anthony Sanchez to help feed the hungry at the Gill Breeze subdivision. Mr. Sanchez called up Dennis and Lena Rodriguez of the Todu Guam Foundation to coordinate the effort. The Rodriguezes called up Yigo’s Palm Barbecue Grill and Restaurant owners Lorraine Umbrero and Harry Cipriano for their help.
The restaurant owners spent this past Saturday afternoon cooking and packaging the food, which the mayor, Vice Mayor Loreto Leones, their staff, the Rodriguezes, and volunteers loaded up into a caravan outside the restaurant. They distributed the food plates, water, and soda up the road from the Gayinero restaurant to Gill Breeze.
About 100 residents of the impoverished subdivision got a hot, tasty meal Saturday night because one person – Mr. Untalan – sprung into action, causing a domino effect of charity that made a difference for many. The donation followed the broadcast of a video and publication of a story on Kandit pushing for a food drive for the hundreds going hungry in Yigo.
“Let’s do this again,” the mayor said to Mr. Rodriguez, who reminded him that the Todu Guam Foundation would be in the area January 27 with its mobile medical clinic to provide services. “We’ll coordinate another food drive, and this time we have a better idea of how many plates to bring.”
The 100 food plates ran out before the caravan reached the 20th home around the subdivision. Ms. Rodriguez estimates there are about 100 homes in Gill Breeze, which means the couple will aim to coordinate donations and meal preparations for about 500 plates for the next outreach effort.
Not a single person refused the help. Kids ran out of their homes excited to eat and to have a cold bottle of water. In one small compound of two shacks and one hut was a family of 18 people, mostly children, who did not have enough to eat before the food plates arrived.
This hunger and poverty are real on our island. And so is the charity of the people involved in this food drive. Please call the Todu Guam Foundation at 671-649-8638 during business hours if you’d like to donate food or money to the next food drive. God bless you, Merry Christmas, and happy new year.
