Ten tons of snow were piled on the font lawn of the Anaheim White
House restaurant this week.
No, our freaky weather hasn't gotten freakier.
Restaurateur with a heart Bruno Serato had the white stuff trucked in so local motel kids could enjoy a fairy-tale winter wonderland.
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Serato, who feeds pasta to local children at his swanky restaurant six nights a week through the Boys and Girls Club of Anaheim, is now legendary for his generosity thanks to CBS Evening News reports from earlier this year.
He's also received many local honors for his kindness.
But, rather than rest on his laurels, or attend sorely to the needs of his clientele, Serato continues to give, creating a snow day Monday for the boys and girls.
After finishing their free Thanksgiving dinners of turkey, mashed potatoes, yams and cream puffs for dessert, 76 kids from 5 to 17 sat anxiously in their chairs inside the formal dinning room of the restaurant, waiting for the go-ahead from Serato.
He calls his unique program Caterina's Club after his mother, who–after coming from Italy to see her son and experiencing a side visit to the Boys and Girls Club–suggested that Serato cook the underprivileged children a meal one day.
That was April, 18, 2005.
He hasn't stopped since.
For many of the kids, Monday marked the first day they ever touched snow, which was donated by Orange County Ice.
Speaking of donations, Serato remarked while accepting the Humanitarian of the Year Award last month from the inaugural Anaheim International Film Festival that he will gladly take pasta contributions so he may continue serving the kids.
With the economy tanking in the last few years, he has had to refinance both his house and the restaurant. An interviewer from CBS asked in August, “How can you keep feeding these kids?”
“I cannot stop,” Serato said simply. It's no longer an option for him but a necessity.
