ORLANDO, Fla. — Everyday Hero Ray Jones is all about helping people break the cycle of poverty while giving them “hope and a hand up” rather than just a handout. He enjoys giving back by way of Orlando nonprofit United Against Poverty.
Jones can usually be found in action as a volunteer with United Against Poverty. The non-profit helping people or clients get much-needed items at a bargain, they also provide food and help people get jobs.
Jones is a client turned volunteer who knows the benefits of United Against Poverty first hand since the group helped him get a job. Now he’s reaching back to help others by volunteering at the marketplace.
“I have no problem with pleasing people because I don’t look at what they are going through or what they had or didn’t have or don’t have now. I just engage with them,” Jones said.
He likes to get to know people, learning their likes and dislikes in the market. Jones has what some might call a knack for this.
“You may not see it right then and there, but in the long run, when you are all along you say I actually made a difference,” Jones said.
Joshua St. Jean said, “He’s like the life of the party everybody knows him. He’s very sociable, people come and they see him and they talk to him.”
St. Jean is the market place manager, and he says having volunteers like Jones keeps the place running like a well-oiled machine.
Volunteers like Jones hold the United Against Poverty mission high, helping people in great need says executive director Anjali Vaya.
“Help them through crisis support, food and our workforce program are to improve their lifestyle and to get them to economic sufficiency,” Anjali Vaya said.
They will soon do it in a brand new home, bringing all the services including the market grocery store all under one roof.
“To be able to take us into this new vision of dignity of even just the grocery center having a dignified experience looking and feeling like a traditional grocery store in itself…it gives me goosebumps,” Anjali Vaya said.
Jones is excited, too. He plans to keep on volunteering, lending a hand pulling others forward toward success.
“It makes you feel good inside by volunteering knowing that you help someone,” Jones said.