WOOSTER — Ohio 16th Congressional District Republican candidate Anthony Gonzalez visited Wooster on Wednesday to help Pastor Richard Frazier and volunteers of the Hope Center’s Greater Wayne County Food Pantry distribute food items.
Gonzalez, who played football for The Ohio State Buckeyes and was later drafted into the NFL by the Indianapolis Colts, is the grandson of Cuban immigrants who fled the country under threat of execution from the Castro regime.
“Wayne County is so special to me,” said Gonzalez to a group of Hope Center volunteers. “I hope you understand how unique it is to have this type of environment here where the community really binds together to help people with food assistance needs. I see that every single time I visit. It is an honor to be here and be a small part of that.”
The pantry is on track to surpass the amount of meals it has dispersed to those who face food insecurity.
“Last year we handed out 1.2 million pounds of food and that made us the largest pantry in Wayne County,” said Frazier. “We are going to surpass that this year. We are on track to hand out 1.5 million pounds.”
Frazier said that the pantry serves about 2,000 families every month and he has seen an uptick in the amount of people that are employed coming through the doors.
“The largest group we have visiting us is the working class,” Frazier continued. “We have also seen more senior citizens and disabled individuals coming in.”
Frazier was excited to have Gonzalez visit and talk to some of the people the pantry serves.
“To have a congressional candidate come and volunteer shows just how much he cares,” Frazier said. “He stands for the American Dream, and part of that dream is hard work, integrity and helping your neighbor.”
Gonzalez feels that entering the political arena is the best way for him to show his appreciation for everything the United States offers.
“My grandmother, who is one of my best friends, always said that if you believe in something enough, you have to fight for it and be willing to do your part,” he said. “That has always been in my head, I was inspired by the idea of trying to fix a broken environment.”
“The government is inefficient across the board, I think we need people with a business mind and a business perspective (in office),” Gonzalez continued. “Let’s start tracking spending and monitoring outcomes so we can take care of our people better.”
Reporter Dan Starcher can be reached at 330-287-1626 or dstarcher@the-daily-record.com. He is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WoosterWriter.
Note: This story originally appeared on The Daily Record website (see here). It is republished here under a Creative Commons license.