ORLANDO, Fla. — Throughout the “red and green” holiday season, one Everyday Hero focuses on blue. 

Sahil Patel serves as a volunteer at the Christian Service Center, sorting through donations and filling up bags as part of the Center’s Blue Bags Food Drive program. 

What You Need To Know

  • Sahil Patel serves as a volunteer at the Christian Service Center 

  • He works in the food pantry sorting donations and also answers the helpline 

  • Patel owns a tech company in downtown Orlando, but still finds time to volunteer

Those who wish to donate can pick up an empty Blue Bag at one of three locations, fill them up with nonperishable food items or clothing, and return them to the Center, where they will be sorted and distributed to the homeless.

“Folks will receive these bags, or take these bags, they’ll take them home,” Patel said. “We ask them to fill them up with nonperishable goods — sometimes with clothing, personal hygiene products.”

One of Patel’s jobs is to sort through the donations by category and to make sure the food hasn’t expired.

“We’ve had families that have come in here and been completely shocked at the ability that we have, in terms of giving them numerous bags, numerous boxes of food," Patel said. "I personally packed weeks’ worth of food for some of our clientele."

Patel says he loves those who he calls “his people.”

“I see them every day," he said. "I walk down Lake Eola and the same clientele I’m serving food to are the same people I see in the morning or in the evening when I’m going for my walk."

Patel also answers the Christian Service Center’s helpline, but says he’s happy to do whatever is needed.

“A lot of us don’t do this for a check box, we do this because these are our neighbors,” he said.

The Christian Service Center started in 1971 and continues through financial support from several downtown Orlando churches.