Every night, restaurants across South Florida close their doors and leave perfectly good food just sitting there, but Broward County's "Bread Man" makes sure the food from one local Panera Bread, doesn't go to waste.
"Everything that they don’t sell, they donate it to us," said the man in question, Pastor Calvin Adams of the local Raven Ministries.
Pastor Adams or someone from his ministry stops by Panera after closing time every night and loads up all the leftovers in a SUV. The food then gets delivered to homeless shelters, soup kitchens and other hungry people who gave Pastor Adams his nickname.
Pastor Adams knows how important his deliveries are. "'Oh man, bread. We have bread, We've got bread tonight,'" Adams said. "And that's all they have to eat."
The amount of food varies every day, but it's not uncommon for a full rack of bread and dozens of bagels -- several boxes of much needed food -- to be given to Adams.
"I understand they have to make a living, you know, to keep their business running, but I look at it and say hey we're gonna have a lot of bread!" Adams said.
One of the organizations that gets bread from Raven Ministries is the Broward Outreach Center. James Whitworth is their director and said even though Panera, Publix and Starbucks all donate food, there are many companies that don't, despite a recent bill passed in the state of Florida that removes liability concerns.
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"A lot of folks just are clueless that this law is even in effect and hopefully the word will get out because the food is much needed and there's much going to waste," Whitworth said. "It's a shame.”
South Florida teen Jack Davis initiated the law after seeing all the food go to waste. Whitworth hopes that once people learn about it, more people will donate.
"Let's call these organizations and see if they can come out and pick it up," Whitworth said, "because I guarantee from the folks that I know and the coalitions I belong to, everyone of them would be more than happy to pick up the food."
