VOA慢速英语2020--纽约一家餐馆帮助穷人解决吃饭问题

A New York Restaurant Helps Feed the Needy¹

Natalia Méndez is doing what she does best: cooking.

She is the owner of La Morada, a Mexican restaurant in New York City. Every day, delicious smells flow out into the street from the small restaurant.

The Méndez family opened La Morada in 2009. The award-winning restaurant is famous for traditional meals from the Oaxaca area of Mexico. Now its fame is increasing for another reason: La Morada is providing free food to needy people in the city.

About 650 free meals a day are produced in the restaurant, along with the food ordered by paying customers. Many of the people who receive the free food are older adults and disabled people. They cannot cook at their homes. Others have lost jobs and earnings² because of the health crisis.

"A lot of people are out of work," says Maribel Baez, a local who is among the unemployed³. "They don't have food to feed their kids. So, this is a helping⁴ hand for everybody," she added.

La Morada is in the Bronx, a poorer area of New York and home to many undocumented people. The health crisis has been especially severe there. The COVID-19 virus even spread among members of the Mendez family. They had closed their restaurant for a month to recover.

So, the family knows personally the pain and economic difficulties that the pandemic causes. And the experience led them to take action.

The Mendez' began the free food program after saving their business through donations gathered through online crowdfunding. Owner Natalia said she wants her food to help keep people healthy. She notes that doctors advise people to keep a safe distance, wear a mask and wash your hands.

"What I'm trying to do by preparing these healthy meals is to heal from the inside," she explained.

An organization called Neighborhood Benches gets the meals to people who have lost their jobs.

Phil lives in a government housing project. He praises La Morada's food program.

"A lot of people need this. They ain't working right now, this comes in handy. Everything counts. Every time I come from work, I see them out here, feeding the projects – that's definitely a good thing. A great thing...," he said.

La Morada's free meals program quickly grew popular when it opened in April. People lined up for food immediately.

Marco Saavedra, Méndez's son, runs the restaurant.

"The first day we reopened, we made huge batches⁵ of soup and we gave it all out within the span of an hour. So, we just knew the demand was there, too."

Marco and his sister Yajaira moved to the United States as children. Their parents entered the country without permission. They never got the legal right to live in the U.S. or the right to work there. Thanks to a program called Deferred⁶ Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, they will not be deported⁷, or expelled.

At the entrance to La Morada, a sign reads, "No Deportations." The message "Refugees Welcome" is painted on the door.

Natalia Mendez says undocumented people in the U.S. are largely defenseless in the face of the pandemic.

"We don't get any help from the government; there isn't a check that can assist or anything on the way that brings help quickly. As a community, we only have each other," she said.

Words in This Story

customers – n. someone who buys goods or services from a business

pandemic – n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world.

crowdfunding – n. the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the internet

aint – v. common in the very informal speech, meaning are not or is not

batches – n. an amount of something that is made at one time

soup – n. a food made by cooking vegetables, meat, or fish in a large amount of liquid

span – n. the period of time between two dates or events

1 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

2 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

3 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 batches   

一批( batch的名词复数 )； 一炉； （食物、药物等的）一批生产的量； 成批作业

参考例句：

• The prisoners were led out in batches and shot. 这些囚犯被分批带出去枪毙了。
• The stainless drum may be used to make larger batches. 不锈钢转数设备可用来加工批量大的料。

6 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

7 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》