In this YouTube segment, NBA star Stephen Curry partners with Rakuten to honor volunteers of Homies Empowerment, a food pantry in Oakland founded by Cesar Cruz. The video highlights the challenges faced by the pantry, including the theft of its service truck, and introduces Angelica, a dedicated volunteer who began helping during the COVID‑19 pandemic after losing her job. Curry surprises Angelica with a signed jersey, a $10,000 check, and a brand‑new truck to replace the stolen one, expressing gratitude for her and the pantry’s work feeding over 2,000 East Oakland residents. The segment blends heartfelt commentary, bilingual gratitude, and a celebration of community resilience during a difficult time.
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What's up, guys? There's a lot of tough issues hitting many people around the world right now. I've been so moved by stories I'm hearing about volunteers around the world who are still making time to help others. I decided to team up with my friends at Rakuten and give a few deserving people a little joy of their own. Check it out.
My name is Cesar Cruz, and I'm one of the founders of Homies Empowerment, and we run a food pantry here in Oakland, California. People can pick up whatever they need, from toiletries to diapers to food. They're basic necessities that everyone should have a right to.
It's been a little bit of a whirlwind, y'all, from getting our truck stolen. We understand the necessity's big, but really, you're gonna jack that truck? It is crazy what is happening, but stay in the faith, stay in the work, stay humble, stay as one tribe.
As a collective, we nominate Angelica. She's an amazing hard worker. Angelica came to us 2 weeks after the pandemic hit. We didn't know she had lost her job. She stepped up as a leader, and we were just deeply impressed the moment she arrived. You know, the struggle to pay the rent, to almost lose your apartment, is so hard. Difficult. You know, imagine you're losing your job and you're impacted by COVID. You're not sure what to do. What she decided to do is come here 3 days a week and give of her time to the people. That is an amazing thing to do, and it was a no-brainer for us.
All right, it's that time. Dr. Cruz, he set up Angelica. She's here. She's ready to give an interview about, you know, being a special person in the community, but we're going way, way above that. So let's go get some joy. She has no idea.
Let's Hey! Hi!
Oh my goodness. Heard a lot about all the amazing things that you're doing in the community. Obviously, this is a tough time for a lot of people, but selfless people like yourselves that are looking out for the next person, that's the only way we're all gonna get through this. I teamed up with Rakuten to bring some joy, hopefully. First, I have a special jersey here that's signed that I want to be able to give to you. We would also like to give you a $10,000 check as a token of our appreciation for all that you do.
Oh, guys, thank you. Thank you so much.
Special people deserve special things, so thank you so much for what you do. But it doesn't stop there. So I want to be able to hand you this. What? We wanted to be able to gift you a new truck.
Oh man, oh my goodness. Thank you so much, man. When our truck was stolen, you know, we feed over 2,000 people in East Oakland. And then to go from that to nothing, this is amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
What a blessing. In unfortunate situations like that, it's hard to kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel. We know it's gonna be put to good use.
Thank you, y'all. Thank y'all.
[SPEAKING SPANISH] Para pagar mis bills, para pagar mis rentas, por permitirme regalarme este dinero que me ayuda mucho. Muchas gracias.
So that's what it's all about right there. You heard the stories of Angelica, Dr. Cruz, and all that they do for the community. Thank you to my partners at Rakuten for making this possible, and make sure y'all catch us next time to see where we give a gift of joy. See y'all later.
