Awhile back, my sister-in-law, Terri, posted about her new plan for reaching out to the homeless that she drives past. I thought what she did was a great idea, so I'm copying it, and I thought I'd show you how I did it.
In these tough economic times, I feel like I'm seeing a lot more homeless holding signs. It seems to always happen as I leave Walmart with bags of healthy, filling groceries, and I can't help but feel guilty about my van of food as I drive past.
So a couple of weeks ago, David watched Seth while I shopped, and I had the time to think about it and get a lot of non-perishables to give away at intersections. So this is what I did. I bought single serve apple juices, raisins, and some different canned items that had pop tops. I put them in paper bags with a couple of napkins and a plastic fork. I also added an index card with a short note and a Bible verse. (I was going for not sanctimonious and not cheesy, and I hope I succeeded.) Then I stapled the bag closed.
I took the box that the letter trays came in and cut off the sides and top. Then I put it between the van seats right behind me where I can reach it. The apple juices didn't fit in the bags, but I figured that was ok. The goal was to have everything within easy grabbing distance without getting jostled and torn from lots of time in the car.
I gave away my first bag a few days ago. Now I don't dread pulling up to those intersections, feeling like I should do something, but not wanting to give money that might be a temptation to buy alchohol or drugs. Thanks, Terri, for the great idea. I hope it helps somebody else for me to pass it on...
In these tough economic times, I feel like I'm seeing a lot more homeless holding signs. It seems to always happen as I leave Walmart with bags of healthy, filling groceries, and I can't help but feel guilty about my van of food as I drive past.
So a couple of weeks ago, David watched Seth while I shopped, and I had the time to think about it and get a lot of non-perishables to give away at intersections. So this is what I did. I bought single serve apple juices, raisins, and some different canned items that had pop tops. I put them in paper bags with a couple of napkins and a plastic fork. I also added an index card with a short note and a Bible verse. (I was going for not sanctimonious and not cheesy, and I hope I succeeded.) Then I stapled the bag closed.
I took the box that the letter trays came in and cut off the sides and top. Then I put it between the van seats right behind me where I can reach it. The apple juices didn't fit in the bags, but I figured that was ok. The goal was to have everything within easy grabbing distance without getting jostled and torn from lots of time in the car.
I gave away my first bag a few days ago. Now I don't dread pulling up to those intersections, feeling like I should do something, but not wanting to give money that might be a temptation to buy alchohol or drugs. Thanks, Terri, for the great idea. I hope it helps somebody else for me to pass it on...
*** UPDATE*** Bottled apple juice starts to smell like funky apple cider if you leave it in the car and it warms up to say, 75 degrees F. I'm sticking with bottled water in the future. =)
1 comment:
THis is a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
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