BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Many in Kern County know him as \u201cMr. Dimples,\u201d the smiling food truck owner whose cooking brings people together. Now, the local chef is being recognized not just for his food, but for his heart.<\/p>\n
Mr. Dimples says his love for cooking started at a young age, growing up in a home where food was limited.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy passion for cooking came naturally,\u201d he said. \u201cWe would cook anything we could find. There wasn\u2019t much food at home, and thanks to places like CAPK, we were able to get food from the government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those early experiences inspired him to give back to the community he now calls home.<\/p>\n
Kelly Lowery with Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) says Mr. Dimples stepped in during a time of need with no expectations in return.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s uncommon for somebody to just show up and say, \u2018I\u2019m willing to do whatever I can to help,\u2019 with no strings attached,\u201d Lowery said.<\/p>\n
Lowery explains that during the recent government shutdown, the focus was on families affected by the loss of SNAP benefits, but one group was nearly overlooked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t really think about feeding the National Guard troops who were there serving ten hours a day,\u201d Lowery said.<\/p>\n
Mr. Dimples noticed and acted.<\/p>\n
His generosity did not go unnoticed. Ward 5 City Councilmember Leticia Perez recognized Mr. Dimples during a city council meeting, praising his selfless actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was one of those moments that reminded me why I love Kern County so much,\u201d Perez said. \u201cThat neighborly sense, the love we have for each other, and our willingness to step up in times of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Mr. Dimples, giving back is simply part of who he is. He now volunteers at the same place that once helped feed him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe look on their faces\u2014children from all walks of life\u2014it gets me so amped,\u201d he said. \u201cKnowing they\u2019re walking away feeling loved and noticed\u2014that\u2019s what we give with Dimples Foods and Ice Cream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Dimples is also preparing to launch his own nonprofit. All proceeds from his food truck currently go toward the Blood Cancer Foundation, allowing customers to enjoy a meal while supporting a good cause.<\/p>\n
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Many in Kern County know him as \u201cMr. Dimples,\u201d the smiling food truck owner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,155,153,152,413,74917,30604,735,26718,74918,100],"class_list":["post-151776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-downtown","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-food","tag-foodtruck","tag-ice-cream","tag-kern-county","tag-kindness","tag-mr-dimples","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}