While Bruno Serato is clearly a very honorable and commendable man, and a credit to his community, I'd say heros look more like the guy in the middle of this photo:
Posted on 11/18/2011 3:43:13 PM PST by Pelham
runo Serato says his Italian mother is responsible for his good deeds.
It started when she spotted a boy eating potato chips at a Boys & Girls Club of Anaheim donation ceremony.
When Caterina found out the chips were all that boy and other children at the club were having for dinner, she told her son to cook for them at his restaurant, the Anaheim White House.
"I had to say yes because I had to listen to my mom," said Serato, who lives in Huntington Beach.
That night — April 18, 2005 — he fed about 70 kids.
"I didn't expect it every day," said Michael Baker, the Boys & Girls Club of Anaheim executive director. "Here's a gentleman who's got a restaurant [where] he could certainly just cater to the wealthy and people who want to go there and pay a decent price … but he chooses to help those who are much less fortunate."
For his work, Serato has been named one of the top 10 CNN Heroes this year. The top hero will be selected Dec. 11. People can vote for their favorite at http://www.cnn.com/heroes.
In addition to the $50,000 each of the 10 has received, the winner will get $250,000 toward their organization.
"If he's not a hero, I don't know who is," Baker said.
Today, Serato's organization, Caterina's Kitchen, feeds about 250 to 300 kids a day at three club locations in Anaheim. Most of the kids live in motels.
"Some people are in denial that we have a problem in Orange County, which is a rich county," he said. "Some people are in denial that in America we have kids that go to bed hungry."
When CNN announced the top 10 heroes Sept. 22, Serato was on the phone with his mother in Italy wishing her a happy birthday.
He said he cried when he heard his name.
"It's a big honor," he said. "I'm proud to do that as an Orange County resident, and I hope Orange County citizens are proud that one of their locals is doing something this major. This has a huge impact, not only for myself, but for Orange County as well."
Serato came to the United States about 31 years ago with a few dollars in his pocket. He worked almost nonstop until he was able to open the White House restaurant 25 years ago.
But when the economy took its recent hit, his business struggled. He wasn't sure he could continue to feed the kids.
"I was put in a spot that wasn't the best economically," he said. "I just gave a call to God and told him to help me, to keep doing what I'm doing, and God has helped me."
Serato's challenge to others is to find a way to keep children from going to bed hungry, including donating pasta and tomato sauce to his organization.
"We're supposed to be one of the richest countries in the world," he said. "I want to feed kids in India, in Africa, but I should start feeding kids in America first. My own home, my country."
http://www.thecaterinasclub.org/index.php
We spend 12 years teaching kids how to fill out welfare forms and they still don’t know?
/kidding
Private charity beats government handouts any day
Now that's my kind of immigrant! That and my parents, of course...
“Private charity beats government handouts any day”
This is one of the most inspiring private charities I know of.
Bruno owns the White House restaurant in Anaheim a few miles from Disneyland. His mother was visiting from Italy and Bruno took her along to the local Boys and Girls Club.
A 7 year old boy was eating potato chips late in the afternoon and the Club director mentioned to Bruno that the potato chips were the boy’s only dinner. Bruno translated this to his mother and she said “Bruno, you must feed the boy pasta!”.
Bruno told the director that he was going to feed the child and the director said “Oh, Bruno, but there are 70 children like him”.
So that’s where it started and every day since Bruno has been preparing pasta dinners at his Anaheim restaurant and delivering them to Orange County’s motel kids. And he’s been doing it right through the Recession when his own business has fallen and the number of motel kids has doubled.
“Now that’s my kind of immigrant! That and my parents, of course...”
Yep, Bruno is the real deal. You can’t help but admire the man. He’s in the running for CCN’s “hero of the year” and if he wins he gets $250,000. You can vote for him here if you want:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/index.html
If he wins his plan is to use the money to help the motel families move out of the motels and into apartments. The “first and last month” payment is often what keeps them stuck in the motels, it’s around $5,000 here and it’s more than they can manage to save.
Bruno will use the $250k to pay the first and last for them. The families have to have been in the motels for a year and the parents have to be employed. He’s not going to waste the money on scammers.
http://www.thecaterinasclub.org/index.php
Not GGG related but maybe something the list might enjoy.
We spend 12 years teaching kids how to fill out welfare forms and they still don’t know?
And your right about private charity beating handouts all the time.
About 10 years ago my son took his family to Disneyland. They traveled on a tight budget and brought their own sheets and pillows and stayed in cheap motels. My granddaughter met a little girl at the pool and when they were ready to go eat the girl asked to go and the mother said yes! The little girl ate well but my DIL couldn’t believe that they let her go with complete strangers! Maybe she was one of those hungry kids.
While Bruno Serato is clearly a very honorable and commendable man, and a credit to his community, I'd say heros look more like the guy in the middle of this photo:
Do you recall the story behind that photo - I know there was one as it ended with something like “...and even then he held on to his .45”. I think they were abushed from above in the house. I recall something about him shooting up the stairs, and I think it is the one where he covered his guys as they moved their wounded into other rooms or outside. Running out of ammo with his rifle and then using his pistol. Or something like that.
For extraordinary heroism while serving as First Sergeant, Weapons Company, 3d Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 13 November 2004. First Sergeant Kasal was assisting 1st Section, Combined Anti-Armor Platoon as they provided a traveling over watch for 3d Platoon when he heard a large volume of fire erupt to his immediate front, shortly followed by Marines rapidly exiting a structure. When First Sergeant Kasal learned that Marines were pinned down inside the house by an unknown number of enemy personnel, he joined a squad making entry to clear the structure and rescue the Marines inside. He made entry into the first room, immediately encountering and eliminating an enemy insurgent, as he spotted a wounded Marine in the next room. While moving towards the wounded Marine, First Sergeant Kasal and another Marine came under heavy rifle fire from an elevated enemy firing position and were both severely wounded in the legs, immobilizing them. When insurgents threw grenades in an attempt to eliminate the wounded Marines, he rolled on top of his fellow Marine and absorbed the shrapnel with his own body. When First Sergeant Kasal was offered medical attention and extraction, he refused until the other Marines were given medical attention. Although severely wounded himself, he shouted encouragement to his fellow Marines as they continued to clear the structure. By his bold leadership, wise judgment, and complete dedication to duty, First Sergeant Kasal reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.
At the time that photo was taken, his "inventory" was:
In him - 7 bullets and 43 grenade fragments.
Not In him - 60% of his blood.
Other more detailed accounts of the engagement are likely available online with a bit of searching.
“Maybe she was one of those hungry kids.
In a cheap motel near Disneyland you can bet on it.
Thank you very much (I should have perhaps done a private message as so far off-topic!). I thought I remembered something about a grenade but figured he wouldn’t have been in “that good of shape” if there was one. Amazing.
One has to wonder what this hard working, successful immigrant thinks of the OWS idiots.
Then he'll do a better job than government programs, which get scammed every day. Local charities have an eye on who gets their money, and they're much more careful to see it goes only to those who really need it.
Well I don’t think anyone is trying to compare Bruno Serato’s charity marathon to the military heroism of First Sergeant Kasal.
CNN is using the word to highlight their stories about everyday people who are doing extraordinary things. ‘Hero’ is being used as a journalistic device, not a philosophical category.
But that is a good article about the Sergeant’s heroism.
“One has to wonder what this hard working, successful immigrant thinks of the OWS idiots. “
If he pays them any attention he’s probably glad they are nowhere near his restaurant.
“Then he’ll do a better job than government programs, which get scammed every day. Local charities have an eye on who gets their money, and they’re much more careful to see it goes only to those who really need it. “
You can bet that he does. He rides along to the clubs and helps deliver the dinners himself. It’s a hands-on operation. You can see in the video clips that he knows who his “clients” are.
Some of these kids are from families that have been caught by the recession and have no place to live but the motels. Others have problem parents, substance abusers, a real mess. The one constant in their lives is the good meal they get from Bruno. Maybe he makes a difference in their lives, who knows.
Yes, they’re clearly using “Hero” as a journalistic device, but I’m taking the position that you can’t be a “hero” unless you’ve done something honorable and meritorious that had the possibility of causing you grievous bodily harm or death.
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