Man with cancer starts Cincinnati food truck to fulfill final wish

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - A Butler County man with stage three colon cancer started a food truck to live out his final wish.

“I’ve got the best breakfast in town, that’s the bottom line,” Joseph Bonanno says.

His food truck, Y Not Cafe, is located on the city’s west side, at the corner of Millville Avenue and Ohio 27 in Millville.

But it’s not just Bonanno’s breakfast burritos that has customers lining up.

With each purchase, the community he serves is helping him live out his one last wish: A long boat ride along the Ohio River, through the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico.

Bonanno recently learned he has terminal stage three colon cancer.

“That’s when I decided, hey there’s not going to be anymore two years down the road, three years down the road. I’ve traveled my whole life and I just want to take one more trip,” Bonanno says.

The community around him is helping to make it happen.

When FOX19 NOW arrived at his food truck Thursday, he already had run out of food.

Bonanno said he still can’t believe the support.

“I’ve got bumps on my arms now. It feels tremendous. I have people who came today who bought absolutely nothing and put money in my tip jar. I don’t even know what to say. It’s overwhelming.”

A GoFundMe page also is set up.

So far, $475 has been raised toward his $8,000 goal.

Bonanno says the most difficult part of his journey is knowing he will be leaving his daughter and family behind. He moved to Hamilton in Butler County to spend his final years with them.

However, after living with cancer, chemotherapy-free, relying on medical marijuana and CBD for the past seven years, Bonanno says it’s something they all learned to accept.

“Just getting up every day, being sick and hurting you get to a point where you just don’t want to do it anymore.”

Now he’s taking back his life focusing on what he can control: “This is my last shot. This is my last adventure.”

That is what brings him peace, letting his family see him living out his last days to the fullest.

“I want them to remember me as, hey dad took off on a trip and everything’s cool and he’s where he’s supposed to be.”

Bonanno hopes to take the trip, which is expected to last four to five months, in February.

His food truck is open 6:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.

It’s next to Old Mill Country Gifts at 800 Walnut Street.

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