Rome's 'Chef of the Poor' feeds the homeless across the city

A homeless man approached Dino Impagliazzo at a train station in Rome 15 years ago and asked him for some money to buy a sandwich. While standing there, Impagliazzo had an epiphany.

"I realized that perhaps instead of buying one sandwich, making some sandwiches for him and for the friends who were there would be better, and thus began our adventure," he told Reuters. Impagliazzo, 90, started a group called RomAmoR, with the goal of feeding as many homeless people as possible. They started by making sandwiches out of his house, and the organization grew from there; they moved on to cooking at a convent, and now they use a professional kitchen to prepare hot meals.

Three days a week, Impagliazzo and his group of volunteers — there are 300 of them — distribute food, and on the other four days, they cook. Bakeries and markets donate food to RomAmoR, and the meals are distributed outside of train stations and in St. Peter's Square. Impagliazzo, known across Italy as the "Chef of the Poor," strives to "involve more and more people so that Rome becomes a city where people can love each other," he said. "It's solidarity." Catherine Garcia

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