Finding a way to feed the hungry

KNOCKING ON DOORS

As Armendariz pulls his truck into the parking lot of the Newport

Harbor Inn, a group of five children descend on his truck with smiles

splashed across their faces.

The Scott family met Armendariz about a year ago when they began

living in Costa Mesa motels. Brian, 4, goes straight for the Apple Jacks

-- his favorite cereal. Christine, the oldest of the children, makes sure

to get toothbrushes for all her siblings.

Meanwhile, 7-year-old Diana is making puppy dog eyes at Armendariz,

asking in her sweetest voice, “Can I have this?” as she snuggles a

stuffed bunny rabbit in her arms.

“Good things always happen when they come by,” said the children’s

mother, Pam Scott.

The Scott family, seven in all, live in one room at the motel. They

pay more than $1,400 a month to stay there.

“To try to save money when you’re paying as much as we do is

impossible,” Pam Scott said.

In a two-hour route, Armendariz contacts about 20 people who leave his

truck with bags of groceries, clothing and hygiene supplies. On

Saturdays, when Armendariz makes a stop at the Costa Mesa Motor Inn, he

supplies about 40 families.

Armendariz’s children, now 9 and 8, usually help him knock on doors

and carry bags of groceries. Michelle spends most of her time chatting

and socializing while Avanti lugs baskets and carries bags for the people

who need them. The boy is his father’s constant companion and enjoys

showing off the muscles he’s developed on the job.

“I want them to see there’s another face to life,” Armendariz said.

At one stop, Armendariz sees an old friend known only as “Lorraine.”

The woman, who’s in her 70s and suffers from Parkinson’s disease, hugs

Armendariz as soon as he walks into the parking lot.

“I’m much happier now than I’ve ever been,” he said. “The hugs and

thank yous are a lot more rewarding than the money and the contracts I

used to sign with people.”

REACHING OUT WITH LOVE

Armendariz is also compelled to do the work he does for spiritual

reasons.

Before the people at the motels walk away with their arms full of

groceries, Armendariz asks them if they would like to share in a prayer.

“The food we bring here is good,” Armendariz tells them. “But it’s

only good for three to four days. But the food of Jesus Christ is good

forever.”

If anyone can minister to those in need, it’s Armendariz, friends

said.

“I think he’s doing wonderful work,” said La Vina Pastor Jose

Coronado, the minister for the Latino branch of the Vineyard church.

“It’s something that not very many people are doing. It takes a heart of

compassion and passion for those people.”

Many of the donations come out of Vineyard Church, but Armendariz also

pays for supplies out of his own pocketbook, said Vineyard Pastor Bill

Faris.

“Luis has not had a perfect past, and he’s also a widower, and he’s

had some rough times in life,” Faris said. “But he’s a living testimony

of what God can do.”

Armendariz does not judge the people who come to him for help. His

openness has people telling him their life stories within minutes of

meeting him.

Susan Osburn, who met Armendariz for the first time Wednesday, was

quickly telling him about how alone she feels and how much pain she’s

been in since being in a car accident that nearly killed her and left her

severely scarred.

“Do you need prayers?” Armendariz asked her.

“That’s an understatement,” Osburn said as she joined hands with him.

“I definitely do.”