A Queens bus driver who donates homemade food to homeless people was among 13 American heroes honored by President Obama yesterday with a Presidential Citizens Medal.
Jorge Muñoz, 46, of Woodhaven, said he was inspired by his mother to make his nearly daily donations to people who gather under a No. 7 elevated subway station.
“She always says, ‘If you share, you’re OK with God,’ ” said Muñoz, a Colombia native who became a US citizen in the early 1990s.
The homemade meals Muñoz gives out can translate to 22 pounds of rice, 20 pounds of pasta, 60 pounds of chicken, 150 cups of coffee and 160 pieces of bread in a single night.
“For these men and women, serving others isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the obvious thing to do,” Obama said at the White House ceremony
While the honorees’ names might not be recognizable, Obama said, “They are heroes to those who need it the most. And together, they remind us that we all have a purpose on this earth that goes beyond our own lives and our own individual needs.”
The winners of the medals are “shining examples of what it means to be an American,” Obama said.
Among the other honorees hailed by Obama yesterday was Susan Retik, of Needham, Mass., whose husband, David, was killed on one of the 9/11 hijacked planes. She co-founded Beyond the 11th, a group that helps women in Afghanistan.
“I just thought to myself, ‘Who’s helping them over there?’ So many people here were helping us,” said Retik, 42.