Chicago man buys out tamale vendors, then distributes the food to those in need


It doesn't get more win-win than this.
Robert Magiet regularly drives around Chicago to different tamale vendors, then he buys out each cart. While the happy vendors go home for the day, Magiet takes the tamales and puts them in community refrigerators, where people can pick up free food, or drops them off at shelters that help the homeless. Magiet, the owner of TaKorea Cocina restaurant, estimates that on the average day, he buys about 15 dozen tamales, at $16 per dozen.
Vendors are usually "in disbelief," Magiet told CNN. "They don't understand why someone would want to buy so many tamales." He got the idea to buy out vendors on a freezing morning, when no one was stopping to purchase food. To their surprise and delight, he is now a regular customer to many Chicago street vendors, and he hopes that other people will join him in his quest to help vendors and those experiencing food insecurity.
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"Together we can all make a huge difference in others' lives," Magiet told CNN. "It's never been more important to support each other."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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