Mother and son duo start non-profit to feed El Paso’s homeless

EL PASO, Texas — For the past year a mother and son have been cooking food and feeding El Paso’s homeless community. 

Chereè Coleman and her son Wilbur, age 7, started the non-profit Bookie and Mommy’s Helping Hand after Wilbur started noticing more homeless people on street corners. 

“He noticed the word food on a lot of their signs,” Chereè explained. Wilbur, also affectionately known as Bookie, suggested they bring food to them.

Chereè made it a goal in 2021 to not waste any food. Any leftovers they had would be put on a plate and given to someone on the street that was hungry and needed a helping hand. 

It started small but quickly grew. Bookie and his mom would travel all over the city to find the largest concentrations of homeless people and pull up their car and start handing out plates. 

“He helps a majority of the time,” Chereè explained while sitting next to her son. Bookie helps develop the menu each month for their meals. He also makes sure each plate has silverware and a dessert, Chereè said. 

Coleman spent moments in her childhood living in a homeless shelter in Detroit. She always remembered the people that were unable to make it into the shelter for the night. It always stuck with her. 

“Whatever happened to those people that didn’t make it in? That didn’t get dinner, that didn’t get a snack,” Coleman recalled. 

Now she is able to give back along with her son. 

On Thanksgiving, the duo were able to feed 80 people. This Christmas they are looking to hand out sleeping bags and socks along with their delicious meals. You can donate to their cause here if you would like to help them.