PHOENIX — Giving back to Valley senior citizens in subsidized housing — it's the Esperança way. Five decades and counting, this Phoenix nonprofit has deep roots.
Moises Mejia leads the Stove to Table program at Esperança. He said volunteering here years ago led to a deep passion for helping others and a mission to share hope.
Every Tuesday, Mejia leads a team of volunteers in the Phoenix-based kitchen.
They work together chopping, roasting, and sometimes baking select items from the garden.
By day's end, they get 200 nutrient-packed meals individually made and delivered.
"Since all of our meals are for a population with a high incidence of chronic illness, we're very aware of the sodium content of our food, so we don't use anything canned. I make all of our broths from scratch," Mejia said.
He calls this work a labor of love.
"I spent 15 years working as an engineer, and having work that didn't have a lot of reward," he said. "It's great. I loved it. But the kind of reward that I feel, at the end of a Tuesday, I can't get that anywhere else!"
Esperança is searching for more volunteers.
