Beastie Boys’ Mike D reveals he served 19,000 free meals to Hurricane Sandy victims

The rapper has been operating a free food truck in Brooklyn

Mike D of the Beastie Boys has served over 19,000 free meals to New Yorkers affected by last year’s devastating Hurricane Sandy.

The rapper – real name Michael Diamond – has been operating a food truck in Brooklyn called Rockaway Plate Lunch since October 2012 with restaurant owner Robert McKinley. The truck has given away thousands of healthy free meals to victims of the severe weather.

Speaking to Good about the project – via Rolling Stone – Diamond said:

We saw right away all these people living without any power, without any businesses being open and therefore, no food. We saw the immediate need for warm food, but we didn’t have time to put together a long-term cohesive plan; we just had to react quickly.

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He added that the chicken, vegetable, beans and rice dinners make up “a very complete, warm, flavorful meal” which are “certainly a lot more nutritious and balanced than a fast-food option.”

The truck still operates on a limited schedule and now Diamond and McKinley are looking to help the local community’s economic problems. Diamond explained: “There’s still the need for warm food out there, but our real goal for this summer is to help revitalise the local economy. So we’re trying to switch the truck over from giving away food, to charging for food but having it become staffed, run and operated on every level by citizens of the Rockaways.”

Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch of Beastie Boys died last year. Yauch was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 and succumbed to the disease on May 4 2012, aged 47.

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