Wednesday, August 19 was memorable for Ram Mehta on several fronts.
It was the two-year anniversary of the death of his mother, Lata, a major inspiration in his life. So it only seemed fitting that this was the date that the local charitable organization he founded, Everyone Eatz, donated a car to Dallas resident Viridiana Corral outside In-Fretta Pizza and Wings in Plano, one of two locations owned by Ram.
However, he’s quick to say that Everyone Eatz’s efforts are not about him. It’s more of a collective thing.
“We started this charity because of my mom. We figured this is the best time to [donate a car],” Ram said. “Now we are so much into it that we are probably going to do one every month.”
Ram’s business, In-Fretta, has always given away food for free to anyone who can’t afford a meal. As soon as the pandemic hit, he and friends started giving away free meals on a bigger scale, which eventually led to the creation of Everyone Eatz. To date the group has given away almost 400,000 meals in DFW, and helped distribute PPE and facilitate free COVID-19 tests at their events.
There were 700 applicants for the car giveaway, many of which were submitted online. Ram and the other Everyone Eatz board members pored over these applications to determine who was the most deserving candidate to receive their first car.
They decided on Viridiana, who earns a living cleaning houses and had been using ridesharing services and public transportation to travel between jobs which takes a considerable amount of her income. On August 18, Ram called to tell her she was going to receive the car the following day. He remembers her initially thinking he wasn’t serious before she burst into tears of joy.
“I was crying, yeah. I was very happy,” Viridiana said. “I have a lot of faith, and I say, ‘Okay, God, if it’s for me, it’s for me.’ But [I told him before] if someone needs it more than me, it’s okay.”
Everyone Eatz is an organization made of Ram’s friends and customers, including Dr. Arif Mahmood, a doctor in Wichita Falls who commutes in for events when possible; Frisco city council candidate Ram Majji; and Plano-based state legislator Matt Shaheen.
Also involved with the organization is Younis Hamideh, owner of Dallas-based G5 Auto. He and his company teamed with www.mycargone.com to secure the car, a blue 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage, for the donation.
Dr. Asad Ahsan, owner of Vital Dental in McKinney, is an Everyone Eatz board member and believes the organization donated its first car to the ideal candidate.
“We are giving it to a very nice lady, a very deserving lady,” Dr. Ahsan said. “She’s very hard-working, works 10-12 hours a day without a car or transportation, depends on Uber. We just thought she would be a very fitting candidate for this. We talked to her and she told us her story. It was very touching. She really, really appreciates it. That means a lot.”
During the event, Ram was interviewed by NBC 5 about what benefit he and Everyone Eatz receives from charitable acts like this and their previous efforts.
“As a human being, how can I see a fellow human struggling, starving? [My friends] feel the same way,” Ram said. “It’s humanity. It’s called karma.”
“As long as we can afford it, we’re going to continue doing this. Sometimes you can’t just think about business. Life is more valuable than money. Nobody ever became poor by giving – nobody,” he continued.
And in the end, Ram felt that donating a car on August 19 was an especially fitting way to honor his mother and her memory.
“Everything is because of my mom. I’m just honoring my mother,” he said. “If I become one percent [of the person she was], I’m happy.”
Everyone Eatz >
amazing !!! highly motivational to do your parts towards community welfare !!! hats off to Ram Mehta!