BALTIMORE — On a Tuesday afternoon, tenants at the Govans Manor Apartments in North Baltimore line up in the lobby, waiting for a home-cooked meal.
And this meal rivals a Thanksgiving dinner.
"Today we have fried chicken, Swedish meatballs, candied yams, macaroni and cheese, string beans, baked beans and ham," said Ricardo "Ricky" Wayman, the treasurer of the Tenant Council at Govans Manor.
Wayman is also the chef behind the impressive buffet. He said it takes him a few days to cook everything for his neighbors and he does this every Tuesday.
"I wanted to do something to feed the neighbors. Nobody gave me any kind of assistance financially or anything like that. Myself and the president of the Tenant Council, we all got donations from various people and what we didn’t have we used the money out of our own pockets," he said.
Head chef is not his only job in the building. He also acts as a chauffeur for his neighbors.
"Monday, Wednesday and Friday is dialysis day. Tuesday and Thursday are take people to the doctor day. Saturday, I’ll take people maybe if they want to go to the market or something. Sunday I take people to church," he said. "So I’m kind of busy seven days but it’s something I do, something I’m use to doing."
Wayman's willingness to spend his time helping his neighbors has made him the go-to guy at Govans Manor.
"He’s a wonderful person. He really goes above and beyond," said Lynnell Brown, the president of the Tenant Council.
"He takes the weight off of me. A lot of things I can’t get to, I can call on him and he can pick up the slack and everything. We kind of work hand in hand which is really good," she said.
Even if Brown or his friends tell him to take a day or two off, Wayman says he'll just find something else to do.
"I’m always busy. I just don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have something to do," he said.
"I really do love what I'm doing and its not something I get paid for, its just something I do. My blessings come from above so whatever I do here, I get it back tenfold."
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