Carmen Garcia grew up feeding the hungry with her mother in Mexico, and now she feeds the homeless in Wichita with her family.

Garcia has worked for Sodexo at Wichita State University for almost 10 years, the last two of which she's spent her spare-time building her homeless ministry, Love and Mercy.

The ministry began on Thanksgiving of 2014 when Garcia and her family cooked a hot meal, packed it in to-go boxes and drove all over Wichita finding people to serve. Since then, they have established a place downtown near 3rd and Topeka where they set up a tent, tables and chairs every other week to serve food.

“We feed more than 100 people each time,” says Garcia. “It doesn’t matter how much food I bring to feed them, it’s always finished.”

People have come to expect them, and Garcia makes a point to turn no one away, whether they come on a bike, in a car or on foot.

“It doesn’t matter if they come up two or three times, we give it to them,” she says. “I don’t say, ‘No, you already ate,’ because we don’t know how often they eat.”

Working together

On the weeks when Garcia is not serving downtown, she cooks and sells food from her home to raise money for her ministry. Many of her friends who buy food from her have started serving alongside her as well, bringing what they can to help out.

Her son, Angel Zamora, helps pick up groceries and cooks when Garcia is at work. He also helps serve and deliver food and has seen people become more open and expressive over the years.

“It gives a lot more meaning to my life,” says Zamora. “They all talk to us; they all have their own story to tell.”

Garcia enjoys serving alongside her family, as it’s become something they can all share and experience together.

“Here it’s not just me. It’s everybody,” she says. “They feel the same way I feel, and we’re working hard.”

She sees the impact her service has and hopes to eventually have a larger space to cook and serve people.

“They feel that you’re not ignoring them, they feel that love,” says Garcia. “It doesn’t matter how dressed up they come or how dirty they come. We serve everybody the same way.”

Garcia hopes others will do what they can to serve in their own way.

“If you have something special in you, do it,” she says. “Don’t worry, they’re going to appreciate it.”