Bruno Serato: Feeds hungry kids at his restaurant; sometimes they outnumber paying customers.

When Chef Bruno Serato’s mother came to visit him from Italy five years ago, he took her on a tour, first of his upscale restaurant and then of the local Boys and Girls Club where he serves as a board member. When he mentioned to his mother that some of the children were homeless and unable to buy food, she insisted he feed them that night, so that’s what he did and he has been doing it every weeknight since. 

Serato has served an estimated 250,000 meals to hungry children over the past five years, even at times when his business was suffering due to the economy. On many occasions the children outnumbered the paying customers and Serato worried he would have to close the restaurant, but thankfully, his story was picked up by CBS and not only have donations started to pour in, but diners are once again filling the seats at the Anaheim White House Restaurant in California.

When Serato’s mother told him it was his responsibility to feed the hungry children, he went along because, well, you have to listen to your mother, but now he says he would not want to stop.

Like Katie Stagliano, our intrepid gardener hero who wondered why any child should go hungry while she could grow vegetables, and Lucile Blackburn, who has devoted years of her life delivering food and love as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels will tell you, getting involved in projects that do good for others can be contagious and addictive. The way Chef Bruno Serato puts it, following his mother’s orders that night ended up giving him “the biggest gift of my life” and he is in it till the end.