Man on a personal mission to feed the hungry

By Aida Ahmed

Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011 | 1:55 a.m.

Wasting food is something Martin Dean Dupalo won’t stand for, especially when there are so many people in the Las Vegas Valley searching for their next meal.

So when bread, milk and other items at bakeries and grocery stores, such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, near their sell-by dates, he makes sure to pick it up before it’s dumped out.

Dupalo, a former UNLV professor who is vice president of the nonprofit organization S.A.F.E. House, dedicates his weekends to making sure leftover food ends up on people’s plates and not in the trash.

“In 2004, a local culinary school threw out 40 pork chops in front of me,” said Dupalo, who was shocked so much food was going to waste.

He persuaded the school to donate the excess food and began delivering it to a homeless shelter.

For the last eight months, rain or shine, he spends every Friday, Saturday and Sunday picking up food at local stores and dropping it off to those in need, he said.

His first stop: the Whole Foods at Town Square. He picks up two shopping carts filled with breads and pastries. Then he drives across town to a Trader Joe’s in Henderson and loads eight to ten boxes of fresh produce, meat, chicken, eggs, milk and juice before it hits the sell-by date.

“I treat it like I went to the grocery store and I’m on my way home,” Dupalo said. “I have to make sure I get (the groceries) out of the car as quickly

as possible.”

When he’s done, he makes deliveries to several nonprofit organizations, such as U.S. Vets, S.A.F.E. House and the Key Foundation. The process takes up most of his afternoon, but he says it’s frustrating because sometimes it’s still not enough.

“They need more and can’t afford it,” Dupalo said. “Sometimes I have to say,

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you something this week.’”

Times are tough for nonprofits that now, more than ever, are in need of food donations.

As chief operating officer of Southern Nevada’s only food bank, Three Square, John Livingston said his agency only reaches a fraction of the people who need help.

“The need in the valley is over 300,000 people,” he said. “With the economic downturn and the unemployment rate, definitely the need has grown. Even when we were at 4 percent unemployment, the need was still high.”

According to Three Square, the number of people who are going hungry in the valley has risen from one in eight to one in six. More than 40,000 are children and about 16,000 are senior citizens.

James Borom, food service coordinator for U.S. Vets — the group provides a place to stay and three meals a day to disabled veterans — said the pastries and bread Dupalo delivers last more than a week and are much appreciated.

“The vets love it. They meet and greet him every Saturday,” Borom said. “It’s definitely a big help, because our budget is not that big. We feed approximately 140 vets.”

Dupalo sees his work as a small opportunity to help. “Food is as basic and direct as it gets,” he said. “I hear ‘thank you’ and ‘God bless,’ and it’s nice. It’s something that keeps me inspired.”