Rialto musician and construction worker gives back to local families for holidays

RIALTO, Calif. (KABC) -- The sound of rain and Mexican holiday music were the backdrop as families in Rialto stopped by an event serving up free tacos, "conchas," a type of sweet bread, and hot coffee.

"With the whole rain coming with these days, we thought 'well why not you know give away coffee? Maybe sweet bread and some food for all the local families out here,'" said George Morales.

Morales is a local musician and construction worker who now calls Rialto home. He says the desire to give back comes from his humble upbringing in South Los Angeles where for him there were no gifts for the holidays, but rather, only the essentials: food on the table and a place to sleep.

Morales reached out to Rialto councilman, Andy Carrizales, who also owns a local coffee shop. "I had just finished our eighth annual Joy for Jackets where we give out hundreds of jackets to kids in the community. We did that at our other location up the street in Rialto, and we still had some more jackets leftover," said Carrizales. "We had toys. We have some things that we're going to raffle off. So I said, 'absolutely.'"

First responders donated toys for a raffle. Morales said he plans to keep giving back in 2022 by donating essential items to local shelters.

"I appreciate George because he's always finding out 'hey, how can we help out the community? How can we give back to the community?'" said Carrizales.