For Amber Longoria, kindness starts with a grocery receipt.
The 22-year-old University of the Incarnate Word student is trying to stretch every dollar she can to help people in need across San Antonio. She started Hope in Every Hallway, a grassroots nonprofit that provides meals for unhoused neighbours, school supplies for children and other essentials for families facing hard times.
“You can buy a loaf of bread for 98 cents,” Longoria said. “That makes 14 sandwiches.”
Longoria said the idea grew from what she had seen around her.
“I’ve seen children who I worked with, and they didn’t have food to eat, or they had old clothing, they didn’t have backpacks,” Longoria said. “You see the unhoused, and they’re hungry, and so I wanted to figure out a way to give back.”
She is a full-time pre-med student and says she plans to become a paediatrician. She said her experiences growing up around children living in poverty pushed her to act.
“I just feel like growing up in that atmosphere really made an impact on me,” she said.
Longoria said resources are tight.
“I have $100 as of right now,” she said when asked how much money her nonprofit currently had available.
She said she makes donations go further by watching for grocery sales, shopping carefully and relying on support from family, friends and community members. She estimates every loaf of bread can become 14 meals for someone in need.
“You really don’t know what others are going through,” Longoria said. “Being kind to others is something that I feel is essential.”
Longoria thought she was stopping by her boyfriend’s house to pick up donations for her nonprofit, but FOX SA was waiting with a Cash for Kindness surprise. On behalf of DJC Law, FOX SA awarded Longoria a $1,000 Cash for Kindness prize to help continue her mission.
“I’m so shocked, and I have no words,” she said after the surprise.
Asked how she would use the award, Longoria answered immediately.
“So many more meals.”
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