When you’re unemployed and without a home, it’s scary to think that you’ll never know when your next meal will be or even what it will be. Will you have to resort to digging out a half-eaten bagel out of a trashcan, or will someone bless you with a hot plate of fresh food from a local restaurant? Not everyone has the comfort of getting to plan where they’re going to dine for dinner or what they’ll cook in the morning for breakfast.
90-year-old chef, Dino Impagliazzo, is a strong advocate for homeless people. That’s why Impagliazzo, also known as “Chef of the Poor,” decided to dedicate his time cooking meals for the hungry people on the streets of Rome.
Every week, the chef cooks 800 to a thousand meals for those within his community using extra food found at his city’s markets and bakeries. The amount of leftovers allows Impagliazzo to cook three days a week, cooking up hearty favorites such as vegetable soup. And with the work from volunteers, the non-profit cooks the remaining four days of the week, serving fresh food all around Rome including train stations.
Thanks to free food donations and help from his volunteer staff members, the Italian chef is able to make his biggest wish come true: keeping homeless individuals’ bellies full.
Chef Impagliazzo started his organization, RomAmoR (RomeLove), approximately 15 years ago.
It all started when he was approached by a homeless man at a train station who asked for money to purchase a sandwich. Since then, Impagliazzo has been eager to help others like the man he had met.
So, he started making mass amounts of sandwiches for those in need.
“I realized that perhaps instead of buying one sandwich, making some sandwiches for him and for the friends who were there would be better, and thus began our adventure,” the chef explained.
Now, the chef has a full kitchen where he cooks beyond just sandwiches for those in his city lacking a home.
With his volunteer work spanning over a decade’s time, the founder of RomAmoR only hopes to impact more people as more time goes on. He believes that by continuing showing kindness to others, it will rub off onto other people.
“We try to involve more and more people so that Rome becomes a city where people can love each other, you know? It’s solidarity,” said Impagliazzo.
Mr. Impagliazzo is the definition of selfless. His generosity is able to help hundreds of people, and there’s no way we can truly repay him for that.
Let us introduce you to Chef Impagliazzo! Meet him by clicking play below.
