Boy's Make-A-Wish dream feeds community -- with food trucks

Tears rolling down her face, Luz Moreno pulled a crumpled $5 bill from her pocket outside the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul. She laid it at the teenage boy's feet and thanked him. Lucas Hobbs looked at his dad, then picked the bill up and handed it back.

Thirteen-year-old Lucas was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in January. And he's among the more than 300 children this year granted a wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Minnesota.

Many kids use their wishes for trips or shopping sprees. Lucas, whose cancer is now in remission, chose to feed people in the community. The Dorothy Day Center, which functions as a shelter and service center for the homeless in St. Paul, was the last of six stops he's made with a fleet of local food trucks.

"God said in the Bible, when you give, and you give your last money in your pocket, you get more blessing than anything," said Moreno, who said she's been living on the streets for two months. "I'm really grateful that some people care about us."

Lucas is a teenage foodie. But when he got sick, he lost much of his appetite.

"When I was diagnosed, that was very scary for me, and very emotional," Lucas said. "People would bring us food, and it was really good food. After they gave me all that, it just made me think about my Make-A-Wish."

That generous spirit, along with the movie "Chef," a story about a food truck, inspired Lucas' idea to use his wish to serve good food in the community.

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Minnesota program manager Carleen Crouse said it's the most unique wish she's ever worked with.

"It's been really cool to see the effects and how many people have been involved and how many people have been touched by this wish," she said. "People are really in awe of Lucas and how giving he is and how selfless he is."

For Lucas, whose dad, Matt Hobbs, is a Delta pilot, "a trip didn't seem that exciting," anyway.

Matt Hobbs said food has brought the family closer together: Loved ones brought over food during Lucas' sickness — and now his son is providing food for others.

"People in Minnesota, when someone gets sick, your neighbor gets sick, they bring you food, and it's special because it's from the heart," Matt Hobbs said. "When you consume food, there's something personal about it that everybody really understands."

Lucas and chefs from nine food trucks have served at his church, his school, the hospital that treated him, the Minneapolis Police Department and his grandmother's senior housing complex.

"When I was sick, I was praying to God for all this stuff. So I kind of decided to serve God back," Hobbs said. "If you feed the less fortunate, you're actually serving me. That's what he says. It feels good to serve."

On Tuesday, Lucas served chicken burritos from Hot Indian Foods. Larry Brown was impressed by Lucas' efforts.

"This is a beautiful thing for a child to say out of his mouth; I've never heard that before," Brown, who uses the Dorothy Day Center, said. "They really blessed our day."