Los Angeles Angels outfielder Vernon Wells and volunteers from his foundation, Perfect 10 Charity, served lunch and provided Bibles at Denton's Our Daily Bread on Monday.
The event marked World Homeless Day, celebrated annually on Oct. 10. Also visiting the soup kitchen on Monday was Mayor Mark Burroughs, who gave a few remarks and met with the organization's clients.
World Homeless Day helps draw attention to the needs of homeless people locally and provides opportunities for the community to get involved and respond to those needs.
Wells said that for him, volunteering Monday was a chance to serve.
"Sometimes time is just as important as money," he said. "You get a chance to come out and meet different people and show them that we love them just as much as anyone else."
Wells said it's fun for him to spend time with people and get a chance to better understand them. As a charity, Perfect 10 is attempting to do everything to help, he said. During his baseball offseason, Wells said, his job is helping others.
"To do something like this, that's the rewarding part of me getting to play baseball," he said. ON THE WEB
• For more information on the Perfect 10 Charity, visit www.vernonwellsfoundation.org .• For more information on Our Daily Bread, visit www.ourdailybreaddenton.org .
Perfect 10 was established in Arlington four years ago, he said, and has established itself in Denton County within the last year.
The charity, Wells said, helps single mothers and their children and expectant mothers.
"It's a great opportunity to get them out of some of the situations they're in," Wells said. "We're allowing them to empower themselves … and to get to the point to be self-sufficient and hopefully break that cycle of poverty."
Millie Bell, the new executive director of Our Daily Bread, said Monday was an opportunity to show the community soup kitchen's clients that the organization and Perfect 10 care.
An average of 200 meals are served daily from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Our Daily Bread, Bell said. On average, 4,500 people are assisted through the organization monthly, and since its inception more than 10 years ago, the soup kitchen has been able to assist at least 435,000 people, she said.
Out Daily Bread, a mission of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, also provides personal hygiene items and helps clients in finding jobs and medical and transportation assistance.
Donated food that's served for lunch is picked up at a Hickory Creek Walmart, and the food is donated through partnerships between the store, Feeding America, a hunger-relief charity, and the Tarrant Area Food Bank.
Client Robert Duwe said he's thankful for organizations like Our Daily Bread, a place he's come to frequently the last four years. It's a place that provides people a place to go and eat and to get necessities from day to day, he said.
"I know I have at least one meal a day, and it's here," Duwe said. "I know I appreciate it. I think there's a lot of people that just take it for granted, a place to get something for free. I don't know where I would be without it."
BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com .
