Around the holidays, you see many people generously giving of their time and money to help those less fortunate.
But for this week’s Everyday Hero, helping the hungry is a year-round effort.
University of Central Florida Knight Todd Currie knows he is one of the lucky ones.
“All of us, obviously, have a different path that we've come, that has brought us here,” Currie said.
Currie and a friend co-founded Food Share in November 2012 after meeting a group of homeless people.
“It was just something I felt I couldn't say, ‘No, sorry. We're going to let you guys go hungry on Sunday,’” Currie recalled.
Food Share quickly grew to a team of seven UCF volunteers.
The first meals they put together were peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Now, working in partnership with Straight Street Orlando, no one leaves hungry.
The need is so great that the hungry are served free meals every night in downtown Orlando.
For the students, their night is Sunday at St. George Orthodox Church.
The UCF team feeds 100 to 150 people and spends a good deal of time during the week working with faith partners and donors to find enough food for the meals.
The volunteers find ways to get what they need, but it never seems to be enough.
“Something we struggle with is that there is just so much need and whether we provide somebody with a plate of food, they might also need a blanket and we don't always have something like that,” Currie said.
With each plate comes a side helping of faith.
“We want to do more than just fill a stomach. We want to fill a heart with hope. We want to put a smile on someone's face. We want to be able to make a connection and try and build community here with people,” Currie said.
Currie is a member of Volunteer UCF, which engages students in many aspects of community service.