United States Marine veteran Dion Cucuta is helping to serve feed hungry people in his community.
United States Marine veteran Dion Cucuta didn’t stop serving his country once he finished active duty. Cucuta, whose service ended in 1983, feeds hungry people in Englewood, New Jersey, every Tuesday in conjunction with the"It comes from my heart," he told TODAY’s Jenna Bush Hager.
Cucuta worked as a food service specialist while in the Marines before becoming an executive chef in New York City. Twenty-five years after he left the Marines, he began experiencing pain and had to get a hip replacement. Doctors told him his pain stemmed from drinking contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and he went on permanent disability. While he was also told he wouldn’t work again, he didn’t let that stop him from helping others., which helps mentor young people and veterans. Cucuta noticed a rise in food insecurity after the pandemic began, so he enlisted some other Marines to take action. They have served more than three million meals over the last 20 months, feeding many veterans, which moves Cucuta."It really grasps me because I understand the sacrifices that they have taken,” he said. “You fought for this country. You’ve taken a bullet in some cases. Now I’m gonna fight for you." Michael McNulty is one of many Marine veterans lending a hand to Cucuta's mission. He says helping others is just what they do. "Dion had asked us to come up here and get involved," he said."He says, 'There’s a lotta hungry people and it’s a lot more than you think. There’s a mile long line of cars there of people who are hungry. Marines have always, we always do humanitarian work all around the world," he said."But this is here in our country."Cucuta is determined to look out for people, regardless of who they are or whether they served in the military. "My whole vision is that you served. I’m gonna take care of you," he said."If you didn’t serve, I’m gonna take care of you. So either way it goes, I’m gonna take care of you no matter what is going on." Cucuta’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. In September, he was honored by the international nonprofit
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