Army veteran 'Sgt. Pushup' raises money for hungry New Yorkers

NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - Patrick Parker wasn't working out in Times Square. He was actually trying to raise awareness. Known as Sgt. Pushup, the Gulf War veteran spent the day in Times Square doing pushups and accepting donations on behalf of the Food Bank for New York City with one sole purpose.

"I'm going to at least do 3,000 pushups here," he said. "I'm not leaving this site until I get 3,000 pushups and that should equate to 15,000 meals."

Food Bank recently released sobering statistics on food insecurity in New York. More than a million New Yorkers have no idea where their next meal will come from.

"What people don't understand is that a significant portion of people who are in need are those who are working poor," Food Bank's Lamont Wray said. "People who look like you and I. As rents continue to increase, people have to make that decision, do they want to pay their bills, their rent or do they want to have a meal for the night?"

Parker has traveled all across the country and his appearances have resulted in some 95,000 meals nationally. His next stop is Baltimore.

He cited his Army background as the cause of his unselfishness and has no plans to end his campaign, preferring to lead by example as our military service members tend to do.