ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — On this Giving Tuesday, nonprofits and organizations across the Bay Area are hoping people will donate to their cause. Spectrum Bay News 9 is spotlighting local efforts to help those in need.
The owners of The Shawarma King food truck have given out more than 150 meals to those in need in St. Petersburg so far this holiday season and they plan to do more before Christmas.
“I think about the next time we’re going to do it and how we can do it bigger,” said owner Ahmad Ali. “How many more people we can feed?”
Ali operates the food truck with his fiancé Eleni Vasiliadis. Both have a lot of experience cooking in local restaurants. They opened The Shawarma King this past January to sell Middle Eastern food.
“It’s pretty easy with my fiancé. She helps me out a lot when it comes to cooking,” said Ali. “We both have the experience of making a big volume of food come out fast and not stressing out.”
On Monday, the couple prepared 70 meals to hand out to the needy. Their first stop was at a low income assisted living facility for seniors in downtown St. Pete followed by Williams Park.
“We feel lucky that we can do something like this,” said Vasiliadis. “We want to help out our community.”
The Shawarama King Food truck gave away 85 meals last week. The folks who get those freshly cooked meals for free are grateful.
“I appreciate it,” said Julia Smith. “So do they.”
The couple said they plan to do another giveaway two weeks before Christmas and want the public to send them ideas on social media of where they should go.
“Tell us of other areas that we can go to that we can help some people out,” Vasiliadis said. ”We want it to be something bigger than just us two.”
Source: https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2021/11/30/shawarma-king-food-giveaway