ATU News
ATU’s ‘Angel in Queens’ named one of CNN’s top 10 ‘Heroes of 2009’
ATU — US, CANADA (11/18)
Nothing about Jorge Munoz, 1181-New York, NY, suggests that he thinks he’s doing anything extraordinary. Even though the New York Times anointed him an “Angel in Queens,” and CNN made him one of their “Heroes of 2009,” Jorge (pronounced “George”) seems unaffected by all of the attention he’s been getting lately – simply because he feeds hungry people.
Munoz has been a member of Local 1181 for nine years. He puts in a full day, five days a week, as a school bus operator in New York City. But after work he puts in another five-and-a-half hours preparing and handing out hot meals to the hungry in Queens. His typical day doesn’t end until 11:30 p.m., and he does this job seven days a week.
‘People Out There Are Suffering’
If that schedule wears him out, he doesn’t show it. The short, sturdy driver, originally from Columbia, displays a gentle determination in every move he makes. In his own way, he is a man on a mission.
“People out there are suffering,” he explains, “So why not do just a little bit to change their lives at least one time a day – with a meal. It’s nothing; for us it’s nothing.”
Local 1181 President Michael Cordiello Praises Work of Member Jorge Munoz
Jorge Munoz, school bus driver for Varsity Bus, has been a model member of Local 1181 transporting our most precious cargo; school-aged children. This quiet unassuming gentle man has now gone above and beyond what the normal everyday person may only think of doing... Jorge Munoz takes one-half of his weekly net salary as a school bus driver, purchases groceries, cooks and serves meals to the homeless in his neighborhood in Queens.
Although he probably would not agree, to this local Jorge is truly a hero to the less fortunate. As president of this local and on behalf of my fellow brother and sister members, I would like to express my pride in representing members like Jorge Munoz. - Local President Michael Cordiello, 1181-New York, NYHe’s been doing this since 2004. He got the idea one day when he noticed a couple of food processing workers throwing out perfectly good food that the law said they couldn’t sell after a certain date. Munoz asked the company owners if they would donate the food to him to give to the hungry. They did, and he’s been doing this work ever since.
“The first week [we fed] eight guys,” Munoz remembers. “The second week, 24, and it increased, and increased until yesterday (November 13) there were more than 150.”
Munoz, his mother, sister, and two volunteers prepare all of the meals in the small kitchen of their Woodhaven home. Their first floor has been taken over by stacks of canned and boxed food, aluminum pans, Styrofoam containers, paper products, a huge freezer full of food, blankets, and clothes – all contributed or bought with the donations which support their work.
Many of the donations come from fellow Local 1181 members who daily leave boxes of food at his bus for him to distribute to the borough’s needy. Munoz also spends much of his free time picking up the things that people contribute around town. He stretches every penny.
Munoz was chosen as one of the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2009, and was to be featured (after the In Transit went to press) in a special CNN Heroes broadcast on Thanksgiving Day.
‘They Trust Me So I Have to Be There’
The Queens school bus operator watches little television, doesn’t take a vacation and hasn’t seen a movie in years. He says he simply can’t bring himself to let his hungry friends down – not even for a day.
“People are lining up and waiting for me,” he says. “They trust me so I have to be there. If, one day, I fall off, there will be a lot of people who are going to be hungry. So I just try to do it every day.”
If you ever accompany Munoz on his mission to Jackson Heights you will understand. On a recent Saturday night there were over 100 people waiting silent and still in the darkness as Jorge pulled his truckload of food up to the corner of Roosevelt and 73rd.
There were those there who have obviously lived on the street for some time. Others had the clothes and bearing of persons who were new to this life, having experienced a sudden change of circumstances. But the look in their eyes told you that they all shared one thing in common – they were hungry.
Passing motorists honked in approval as Munoz and his volunteers handed out food and drink. Trains rolled over the elevated tracks above them with a deafening clatter. But the noise seemed to fade away, replaced by a litany of almost reverent “gracias” uttered by each as they received their portion.
After the group started to eat, the mood lightened, and people spoke happily with each other as if they were starting to feel human again. That may be Jorge Munoz’s greatest gift of all.
Find out more about Jorge Munoz’s work at: