SALT LAKE CITY — Since he was 3 years old, Jorge Fierro says he dreamed of coming to America.
"I was so fascinated by Americans' philanthropic mind," he remembered. "For a long time, I had the idea that I wanted to learn from Americans why they have such a philanthropic mind."
Eventually, Fierro landed in Salt Lake City. When he arrived, he stayed at a rescue mission and men's shelter.
He didn't yet speak English, but a Puerto Rican friend at the shelter informed him that a high percentage of homeless men are veterans.
"And that broke my heart. That did it to me, for me. That's when I thought, ‘You know what? Someday, I can probably show the respect and the love and the admiration that we Americans have for them,’ but oftentimes we get pulled away from concentrating on what's important."
That vision came to fruition.
Thursday evening, Fierro told the Deseret News his story as about 20 volunteers bustled around the kitchen at his business — Rico Brand, a Mexican food supplier — rolling burritos to distribute to homeless people on the streets of downtown Salt Lake City.
The Burrito Project started eight years ago when a bicycle club approached Fierro interested in starting it up.
"I had employees making tortillas, I had employees making rice and beans, so I thought that it was great," Fierro recalled.
At first, they made and donated the burritos once a week.
Now, volunteers gather around dinnertime to prepare 200 to 300 burritos given by Rico Brand four nights every week.
Volunteers of all ages, from families, school classes and all types of groups often sign up to help out.
When the weather is warm, some ride bicycles contributed by the University of Utah. That enables volunteers to seek out homeless people where they stay in alleys and places that can't be reached with a car, said Jason Holman, one of the group's original organizers.
"When I first came, I just thought I'd do it once or twice and call it good. 'Cause it's a good cause, feeding people. But the very first day that I did it, I went to Pioneer Park," Holman said.
There, he met a little girl named Samantha, age 3 or 4, who he said lived at the park with her two siblings. She seemed happy.
"Who wouldn't be happy to live in the park? But then, when night comes, she also lives in a park. So I didn't miss a day after that," Holman said.
He said the work has taught him that "you never know what happens, why people become homeless. It can be a number of things, but that's not my job to judge them, it's my job to help them."
"We probably have served over 1 million burritos in eight years," he said, adding that the group used to serve more before Operation Rio Grande. Now it's more difficult to find homeless people because they scatter when night falls, according to Holman.
Tiffany Youngblood, who volunteered on Thursday with two young daughters and other family members, said the family signed up "I guess just to be humbled, do something to give back."
They gathered around tables and spooned beans and rice into homemade flour tortillas. They watched as organizers showed them how to roll the burritos into tin foil wrappers.
Elizabeth Sorensen and Tiana Perez, nursing students at Salt Lake Community College, were volunteering with the project for the first time.
They arrived to help deliver some of the burritos in the City Creek area downtown to people who said they were grateful for them.
Afterward, "I'll definitely be back," Sorensen said. "Initially, yes, I'm doing it for (volunteer) hours for nursing, but I'll definitely, definitely be back."
"I'm coming back with my son. He wanted to be here," Perez said.
Fierro says he's continued to donate the burritos and volunteer because the community has supported him since he started selling beans at a downtown farmer's market 21 years ago.
"The community has been supporting me so well that that's what keeps it going. So I have committed to doing this as long as I can afford it," Fierro said.
"When you go out there to start to give burritos, people are so grateful, and it's just such a great experience. And it makes you realize how blessed we are."
For more information about the Burrito Project or how to volunteer, visit its website, burritoprojectslc.webs.com. You can also check out the project on Facebook at Burrito Project SLC.