Trenton, New Jersey, food truck driver helping feed underserved communities: "It just means the world to me"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Max Gatto just celebrated his 26th birthday, and he has his dream job: a truck driver.
Gatto is the only food truck coordinator for Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, aka TASK. He remembers volunteering on Escher Street as a teen in high school.
After growing up in Trenton, he knows food insecurity is a huge problem. And the early morning line outside the facility hasn't changed much.
"We really thought after COVID we reached the height of it but we have not. We are 20% more, in terms of demand and need, meals need prepared this year," Joyce Campbell, the executive director of TASK, said.
In January, TASK provided 40,000 meals in one month.
Campbell's leadership team came up with the idea of a mobile food truck to get to the areas where people can't easily access food. The secret ingredient to the success of this new program is Gatto.
On any given day, Gatto said they can feed up to 150 families at Capital Health Hospital in Trenton.
"There are people who have become regulars here because of the truck and the location," Gatto said. "There are places closer so they don't have to travel as much too far."
Gatto and his team also hand out about 400 meals on average at the Trenton Transit Center.
"The three groups that we were looking to target the most is young kids and families, the elderly and chronically homeless," Gatto said.
The goal is to one day take all the services that are provided at Escher Street on the road.
Gatto said when that happens, he'll be behind the wheel.
"It just means the world to me," he said.