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[DiipuSurotu]

Badame and his wife, Phyliss, were survivalists who stocked up on everything: dry food, generators, fuel, survival books, thousands of rolls of toilet paper — all to keep them alive in the event of a disaster or some other crisis.

But Phyliss, who came up with the idea of prepping, is now gone. Other family members never really supported the endeavor, and there aren’t many of them left to help or save anyway.

And Badame, the 74-year-old widower, is being evicted from the house in Medford, N.J.

Forty-five years of prepping seemed to have been for nothing, he said.

That changed last month, when he met a couple who run a Puerto Rican food truck in Medford.

Victoria and Anthony Barber were everything Joseph Badame was not anymore — young, energetic and full of life.

They met during an estate sale of Badame’s belongings. The company facilitating it had asked the Barbers to provide food for prospective buyers.

Badame learned that Victoria is from Puerto Rico, and that Hurricane Maria had left some of her relatives without food.

So he told her about the food supply in his basement — and said she could have all of it.

“I can’t put into words just how much food there was,” she said. “It was enough to feed a town.”

In the basement were 80 barrels, each weighing 360 pounds.

They were filled with bags of rice, flour, sugar, dried beans, pancake and chocolate mixes, seeds and lots of other things that do not spoil and are easy to prepare.

The food that the Badames had intended to eat in case of crisis will now feed starving people in two Puerto Rican towns devastated by Hurricane Maria.

He and Phyliss became survivalists in the 1970s, when they returned to New Jersey after spending two years with the Peace Corps in Tunisia. Violent race riots engulfed Camden in 1969.

More riots erupted two years later, following the beating and death of a Puerto Rican motorist at the hands of two white police officers. Looting and arson destroyed downtown Camden; many residents, most of them white, moved elsewhere.

“I’m tired, old, depressed, feeling like I’m a failure regarding the survival thing,” he said. Then Barber “came along, gave me a shot of adrenaline. I couldn’t believe it.”

Badame and Barber each gained something they didn’t have.

He doesn’t have children; her own father died when she was young.

“I gained a dad out of all this,” she said.

More at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...od-then-decided-puerto-ricans-needed-it-more/

Store thread in a basement if old

 

[The One and Done™]

This is a damn amazing story. Love it.

 

[Dice//]

Bravo!!

 

[ClosingADoor]

Nice story. At least now that food can be put to good use.

 

[Heckler456]

“I gained a dad out of all this,” she said.

Aawwwww!

 

[ladyluthien]

That's an amazing story. Read the whole thing then got to that last sentence and began balling. So wonderful. Need more people to love and give to each other

 

[Linkura]

Now that's a feel good story.

 

[Derwind]

Yeah thats a really moving story, thanks for pisting it OP.

 

[TEJ]

i swear i’m not crying

just cutting onions y’see.

onions.....

 

[zeemumu]

Aawwwww!

Joking aside this is really sweet.

 

[Beartruck]

This is probably the only time ever hoarding like this ended up helping people. Cool story.

 

[giant_frying_pan]

Hero.

 

[Drazgul]

Some post-apocalyptic raider is now denied a treasure trove find of a lifetime.

 

[Messofanego]

Finally a good use of being a doomsday proper.

 

[brian577]

They might regret that decision the way Trump is going.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

This made my fucking day!!!!

 

[Syriel]

Excellent story.

Good to see that all of those resources aren't going to waste.

And it's awesome that two people were able to both help the other.

 

[Budi]

God damn lovely, feels good to see human kindness now and then. Thanks for sharing this.

 

[Necro]

He was gonna throw it away..

 

[blakep267]

So when can I expect the Hollywood adaptation to come out

 

[Star Orpheus]

They might regret that decision the way Trump is going.

Can we please not?

I could really use a positive thread today.

 

[crisdecuba]

He was gonna throw it away..

It’s more accurate to say that the local food shelters couldn’t handle the transportation, and he feared the supplies would be thrown away upon his home being repossessed.

 

[Pesmerga00]

Can we please not?

I could really use a positive thread today.

Every time.

This was great. Hopefully it gave the guy some happiness knowing he helped a lot of people.

 

[Rentahamster]

Nice story

 

[lightus]

They might regret that decision the way Trump is going.

They may regret helping feed two towns full of people in need? Doubtful.

It's okay to just read a story and feel good about it man.

 

[trejo]

It feels nice to read a positive story every once in a while. Props to that man for giving all that away to people in greater need of it.

 

[LoserMakesGood]

feeding two towns. simply awesome.

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

Wow that's a lot of food! Glad he decided to donate them.

 

[MidnightRain]

That's so nice. T-T

 

[Alienous]

This is really heartwarming.

 

[Wandering Robot]

That is just awesome. It's so nice to see people helping each other.

 

[Bishop89]

This is a touching story. Good on him :')

 

[Johnny Cage In The Shower]

This is the type of news I long for these days. Rare to come by.

 

[DiamondDog74]

Love it. Feel success by sharing with those who need it. He and his wife fulfilled a purpose.

 

[mr jones]

That's a lot of karma.

Folks are probably going to rally around this dude. I bet he gets enough donations to keep the house.

 

[16BitNova]

Amazing. This guy is what humanity should strive to be like.

 

[Not]

Yessss. Keep the basic decency coming, humans.

 

[Dhx]

OP: Why put "survivalist" in quotes? You (and even I) may find it a ridiculous lifestyle, but it's an accurate descriptor.

Laudable of him to help out.

 

[impirius]

I always wondered what happened to all those buckets

Good on these folks!

 

[Plywood]

Bless them.

 

[BladeoftheImmortal]

OP: Why put "survivalist" in quotes? You (and even I) may find it a ridiculous lifestyle, but it's an accurate descriptor.

Laudable of him to help out.

Sounds more like his wife was the prepper. A real prepper would never help out others.

 

[Sai-kun]

*sobs forever* that’s awesome. What a great story.

 

[Blizzard]

That last line plus the picture right after made me tear up a little. ;_; I'm glad the food can be put to good use.

 

[CommandThrower]

A man among men, right here.


What a nice, feel good, inspiring story!!

 

[sturmdogg]

OP: Why put "survivalist" in quotes? You (and even I) may find it a ridiculous lifestyle, but it's an accurate descriptor.

Laudable of him to help out.

How is it a ridiculous lifestyle if it helps your family (and in this case, a whole friggin' town) live another day?

Edit: TWO towns.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

OP: Why put "survivalist" in quotes? You (and even I) may find it a ridiculous lifestyle, but it's an accurate descriptor.

Laudable of him to help out.

Dunno, it was just the first time I ever read this word actually.

That's a lot of karma.

Folks are probably going to rally around this dude. I bet he gets enough donations to keep the house.

Seems like it's too late for the house, but he probably has no regret because he and Barber are neighbors now:

Badame now lives in a 300-square-foot trailer, parked in Barber's front yard.

(His trailer is bigger than my appartment, haha)

 

[Usobuko]

They both saved each other.

Touching.

 

[frontovik]

Amazing story Good on him for helping out those affected by tragedy.

 

[ComputerBlue]

The story makes me happy and sad, because of this. Especially at his age.

Buried in debt because of eight years of medical bills and lost income, he could not prevent banks from foreclosing on his custom-built New Jersey home

 

[Shadybiz]

VERY cool story.

Shame about him losing the house. I live right near Medford. Unless you're wealthy, it is not a good place to retire, especially with the medical bills and lost income that he has. The property taxes in that area are bananas.