Paul Martinez
This is an update to a story I posted last month. It was about a Paul, a young man who went to the San Antonio Food Bank with hunger pains, empty pockets and dismal job prospects– and ended up with career training in a field which he is passionate about (and which all but guarantees he’ll never be hungry again).
After I posted, I wrote a note to Paul with a link to the blog and he wrote back with an update. The 30-week culinary training program he had hoped to attend (as a precursor to the full Associates degree program) at the San Antonio Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is no longer offered. He is working full-time for Catalyst Catering, the catering business that is both an arm of and financial support for the food bank. He wrote, ” Only the Associates program is available at the San Antonio Campus and would cost $80,000 to complete. Hopefully, one day I can attend the school of my dreams. For now, I truly believe that I am where I belong. I get to do God’s work, and do what I love; which is raising money for those in need with my cooking abilities. I am truly blessed…”
I am grateful and humbled, Paul, by your generosity and by your story. I hope it will inspire other food banks to offer job training that breaks the cycle of “expendable” employment while providing funds and staff to feed the hungry. And I hope the way the San Antonio food bank changed your life forever will inspire readers to support their local food banks with whatever time and money they can.
So great!
Amazing story…full circle…can’t get better than that!
I am Paul’s mother and just wanted to thank you for writing about him in your blog. You can’t imagine how proud I was to read about him in your blog and how excited he was when he first told me about it….I have always told him that it was an answer to my prayers when he first enlisted in this program…that he has come so far and finally has a job that he truely loves is a GIFT FROM GOD!. Again thank you so much and my God bless you.
Bianca– Thank you so much for taking the time to write. Paul’s story resonated for me and many of my readers. He clearly has found his passion, and that it came from a dark hour makes it all the more meaningful. When I was talking too him, he told me how watching you work hard to feed the family– and to make good food with limited resources– was an inspiration for him.