Oscar De La Hoya is celebrating his birthday by giving back.
The former boxer, who is ringing in his 49th year, spent his big day Friday with girlfriend Holly Sonders at Project Angel Food in Los Angeles as he prepared and handed out meals to critically ill people, TMZ reports.
“It is nice to just wake up and want to be of service,” he said. “I grew up in East L.A., not too far from here. And ever since I was 15/16 years old, I remember my mother instilling those values in me that the more you have, the more you receive—whether its your boxing career, winning world titles, the gold medal—the more you have to give back.”
De La Hoya and Sonders pitched in by packaging the food for those with a high risk of contracting COVID, and slapping on a personal label with words of encouragement from the boxer himself.
The athlete—who was previously hospitalized with COVID for three days, ended up also sharing a cake with those who spent the day with him.
“Being hospitalized [with] COVID really opened up my eyes and my heart, basically,” he shared. “To give back even more, there’s a lot of people in need out there. Sometimes we take it for granted and sometimes we don’t realize how many people are in need until you live it, until you’re here, until you experience it. So the fact that I’m here on my birthday really is a blessing.”
