For the last 40 years, one community kitchen has fed the hungry in Orlando. But Saturday, Daily Bread got a little help of its own.

  • More than 150 people helped rehab Daily Bread
  • Workers were Restaurant Facility Management Association volunteers
  • RFMA selects one facility each year to renovate

More than 150 people from around the country painted, planted, cleaned and scrubbed, rehabbing the soup kitchen, located in the Paramore neighborhood of Orlando.

The volunteers are members of RFMA, the Restaurant Facility Management Association. Each year the group picks a facility to renovate, and this year, they chose Daily Bread, part of the Christian Service Center.

“Everybody is just so thrilled about being here. We love having them here," said Robert Stuart, Christian Service Center's Executive Director. “One of the guys was just mentioning, 'Robert. I’ve never seen you smile so much.'"

Stuart has been with the Christian Service Center for more than two decades.

“They said you probably ought to put an application in, and we said, 'Fine, we’ll try to do it,'" he explained.

That application won them $500,000 worth of donated labor and materials.

“These are people that care. They want to help. And isn’t that a great thing? And isn’t it great for the people of this community to maybe see that people care?" said Kim Sackett, a volunteer who traveled from Virginia to take part.

“We had coffee, we had a nice prayer from the head of Daily Bread. Everybody broke into groups and we just started painting," she said, paintbrush still in hand. “I’m not used to the Florida heat!”

Daily Bread serves a noon-time meal, six days a week, for the community. In the last 40 years, that equates to 4.5 million meals---for free.

“It’s nice that these guys will have a brand-new, shiny place to get their food and their clothes," said Sackett. “Wouldn’t it be better if everybody took a Saturday and did something for somebody else?”

Daily Bread said that the renovation includes a new roof, more restrooms and upgraded case management areas, so that the Christian-based organization can better connect with the community.