Hometown Heroes: Mari Gonzalez, director at El Buen Samaritano Food Program

As a wife and a mother with two children, Mari Gonzalez said she wanted to continue the legacy from her parents to keep fighting food insecurity.

Growing up with food insecurity, Gonzalez had seen her parents finding sources and helping to feed a family of six. Her parents, Maria and Osiris Reyes, who founded El Buen Samaritano Food Program in Worcester 1991, sought help through organizations such as Friendly House that provides critical assistance and later started volunteering at the organization.

Through Friendly House, a Worcester nonprofit, her parents met the executive director, Gordon Hargrove, who offered big help in establishing El Buen Samaritano, located at 39 Piedmont St. When her parents saw that there were not enough food pantries and programs in Worcester, they thought, "why didn't they open another one on the other side of the city." - Read More about it here.