Members of Bowling Green’s homeless population line up April 28 for meals served by teenager Ryan Depp (right) and his father, Doug Depp (center), in the parking lot of the downtown Warren County Public Library.

They come in wheelchairs, in rattly old cars and on foot. Many have their life’s possessions stuffed in backpacks slung over their shoulders.

On Saturday mornings, you’ll find them by the dozens in the parking lot of the downtown Warren County Public Library, where they know they will find the nourishment to quiet their growling bellies. And where they know they will find a friend.

Teenager Ryan Depp is that friend to the members of Bowling Green’s homeless and precariously housed community. While others his age are sleeping in or enjoying a welcome weekend break from their school routines, Depp is serving food to the city’s neediest residents.

It’s an unlikely alliance, but one that was obvious on a recent Saturday when a wheelchair-bound visitor to Depp’s makeshift dining hall looked up at the youngster and said: “You’ve saved a lot of people.”

The feeling, it turns out, could be mutual.

Diagnosed with depression as a middle schooler, Depp felt a need to reach out to others who may feel hopeless as a result of their circumstances.

“I saw people in need and wanted to do something about it,” said Depp, 14 and a freshman at South Warren High School. “I wanted to do something to help people. They’re basically invisible.”

Those living on the streets or in substandard housing, estimated by the HOTEL INC nonprofit to number in the hundreds locally, are very much visible each Saturday as they line up for the meals Depp and his father Doug Depp provide.

Depending on weather and the time of month, as many as 40 people will show up in the library parking lot, filling styrofoam plates with hot chicken, burgers or hotdogs along with fruit, pastries and whatever the Depps can scrounge up through donations or their own purchases.

Called “Helping Hearts for the Homeless,” Ryan Depp’s effort to provide food to those in need has in a short time become part of the routine for Bowling Green’s homeless.

“Sometimes it’s our only meal of the day,” said 45-year-old Todd Boocher, who lives on the streets. “I’m really grateful for the food. It’s really awesome that Ryan does this. I’m proud of him.”

So is the elder Depp, who said providing the meals was all his son’s idea.

“In September of 2016 Ryan said, ‘I want to help homeless people. They’re the most neglected population,’ ” Doug Depp said. “I thought we’d go to The Salvation Army a couple of times a month or something. But he wanted to do something hands-on.”

Doug Depp said that in-the-trenches effort has taken off as those in the city’s homeless community have warmed up to both Depps.

“We started with sandwiches, and we’d have six or eight people,” Doug Depp said. “Then last September Ryan said he wanted to start doing hot meals. Once we started doing that, it took off.”

On a recent Saturday, the Depps were serving barbecued chicken donated by Tammy Miller of Bowling Green’s Tin and Tray Catering.

“When we have leftovers, we like to donate to Ryan,” Miller said. “It’s a big deal for a kid that age to step up and help others, so we’re happy to help him.

“Ryan doesn’t normally relate well to people, but he has connected with them (the homeless). I’ve watched him blossom, and I’m happy to support him. I want to see him succeed.”

One of a small number of local people and organizations who reach out to the homeless, Ryan Depp was honored this year with the Volunteers in Action Rookie Award.

Shelly Adwell, a local paramedic and longtime advocate for the homeless, believes the honor is well-deserved. She said Ryan Depp has a unique ability to connect to those struggling with homelessness and hunger.

“I think he does a really good job,” Adwell said. “He relates to the homeless better than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

Ryan Depp, as thin as many of those he serves, sports a South Warren T-shirt as he dishes up chicken and talks about how his outreach to the homeless has grown.

“I just realized that this needed to be dealt with,” he said. “We had to build up trust with them (the homeless). People started mentioning us to their friends, and then the homeless themselves put up flyers about us.”

As the number of mouths to feed grew, Ryan Depp said it was hard to get sufficient funds to buy all the food. But, not wanting to disappoint those who had come to depend on the meals, Doug Depp said he and his son have made an effort to show up every Saturday and made some sacrifices in order to get enough food.

“In a year and a half we’ve missed two Saturdays,” the elder Depp said. “Once when we were sick and once when there was a big snow.”

His work in the heating and air conditioning business has helped finance the meals, Doug Depp said.

“Last year, I probably put $5,000 in it,” he said. “But I told him (Ryan) that as long as he wanted to do this I would help. We get a lot of donations around Christmas time. We’re not a nonprofit, so it’s hard to get donations.”

Ryan Depp said he has applied for a $2,500 Student Impact Grant through the Kentucky Association of School Administrators and is working on getting nonprofit status.

That indication that his son is in this for the long haul is just fine with Doug Depp, who said: “It’s therapeutic for him, and it’s a stress reliever for me.

“When you start interacting with the homeless, you realize they’re battling some of the same things we are. We’ve had ’em come through and say they’ve found an apartment or job and are making their way in the world. That’s rewarding.”

It’s rewarding enough for Ryan Depp that the curly-haired teenager can envision making his penchant for helping others into a career.

“I can see myself doing something like joining the Peace Corps,” he said.