At every meal he gives, he wishes a person health and says "I'll be waiting for you tomorrow at 4 p.m.". Martin Martinov, owner of a restaurant on the capital's "Vitosha" Blvd. and creator of the "Give a hand" campaign, has been doing this for 9 years.
For 9 years now, he has been feeding every poor and homeless person in Sofia. And "Give a hand" has become a way of life for him.
And every day, on Christmas and Easter, Martin provides food, because "these people don't eat only on holidays, they have to eat every day, like us."
My upbringing made me create "Give a hand". I have been working as a restaurateur for 26 years and at the beginning there was food left over, not from the plates, but cooked food and there was nothing to do. Or it had to be processed, but people say, "it's from yesterday". We have been eating at home for 3 days, and in a restaurant we want it from today. I decided that I would feed homeless people, made flyers and handed them out in places where they sleep. I started in 2016 with a specified day, time and place where these people should come. The first day 80 people came, and I thought I would feed 30. I have reached 200 people a day. The same people come every day," Martin Martinov said in an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio.
And he shared that he talks to the homeless and checks:
"There is no way you can come and immediately get food. If I decide to give to a newcomer, just like that, in a little while the person I've been feeding every day for 4 years will come and there won't be any food for him. That's why I'm checking."
And on Easter he was in the center of Sofia and a long line of homeless and poor people formed, whom Martin Martinov with "Give a Hand" fed, and his assistant was the music icon Esil Duran.
And 147 people received an Easter menu with lamb, pork belly, kozunak, 3 eggs, 2 waffles and a croissant.
Martin knows the people he feeds and says that some have been coming for 9 years, others - thanks to "Give a Hand" 9 people have returned to normal life, and others do not want to.
He thanks all the people who help him and make donations, and most of them are ordinary people, even pensioners. There are no businessmen or politicians among the donors.
Martinov thanks Esil Duran and his brother, who is always with him and keeps the queue open when Martin distributes food.
"Many people say about the homeless and the poor, "they are to blame". But many of them are lied to, deceived by loved ones, relatives, even by their own children or outsiders who dishonestly acquire their property. There are some who did it themselves to end up on the street, but not all of them. Even if that is the case, we are not the people who will determine - you will eat, you will not eat,", the creator of "Lend a Hand" shares his philosophy.