Miami Police Team With Couple To Feed 500 Families At Food Distribution
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A South Florida couple teamed up with Miami Police to distribute 10,000 pounds of food to roughly 500 families in need amid the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday.
The food distribution near Flagler Street in Little Havana included boxes of food donated completely by Kosta and Sammy Gara.
"I watched on the news two weeks ago a family in their minivan pulling up to a food bank, and I was ashamed of myself that we're not doing more," said Kosta Gara. "So I told my wife, let's do this and I went and bought 10,000 pounds of food and put it in my warehouse."
A now-30-year immigrant from Greece, Gara told CBS4 on Wednesday that he owns several companies, but didn't want to name them. Instead, he wanted his food distribution to be about one message; "paying it forward."
"I really want to inspire other people," said Gara. "Don't worry about branding, don't worry about milking this. This is really about paying it forward. That's why our truck doesn't have our branding, our shirts, our hats, nothing."
Gara said he and Miami police officers went around to hard hit neighborhoods in Little Havana to pass out flyers and invite families truly in need to their food distribution.
Moving forward, the Garas said he hopes this encourages other people to give back as well.
"This is a tough time. I've been through that 30 years ago, somebody took our hand and helped us through it, so it's my way of paying it forward," said Kosta Gara.
