Aug 19, 2009 5:22 pm US/Eastern
Brotherly Love: 77-Year-Old Man's Mission Is Meals
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Don D'Orazio, volunteers for MANNA, a charity that provides food for people with life-threatening illnesses.
CBS
Today we meet a man who turned a layoff into a new life of helping others, and he's helped thousands of people ever since.
Don D'Orazio isn't a chef.
"I know nothing about cooking, but I'm learning!" said D'Orazio.
That's a funny thing to hear from a man who spends so much time in the kitchen!
D'Orazio volunteers for MANNA, a charity that provides food for people with life-threatening illnesses.
"We do 1600 meals today, doing breakfast, doing lunch, dinner,"
D'Orazio said.
D'Orazio has been volunteering at MANNA for 18 years -- one of the longest-serving volunteers the organization has.
"He's amazing," said Rob Saxon, who coordinates volunteers for MANNA.
"Don was one of the first volunteers I met when I started here. I was new and he kind of took me under his wing.
The real chef, Keith Lucas, says D'Orazio is a huge help.
"He's just a very, very pleasant person," said Lucas. "Anything you need, he's right there."
D'Orazio is there for new volunteers as well.
When Missy Randolph first started volunteering for MANNA's mission, D'Orazio was there to guide her through the large, sometimes intimidating kitchen.
"He's very jolly and he makes you feel really good, especially as a new volunteer," said Randolph.
Back when Don D'Orazio started, MANNA had maybe 12 volunteers, 80 clients and one chef.
Today there are 800 clients and 1000 volunteers!
But he's still there.
D'Orazio is now 77 years old.
"There's a couple older than me, believe it or not!" he said.
He shows no signs of slowing down in his mission -- providing meals as medicine.
"If we're blessed with good health, then you're rich," he said.
"Then we should help others who are not as fortunate as we are."
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