I am very sensitive to all of the homeless people I see. If you want to know a huge secret of mine...... I once thought I might end up like one of them. Even if they are in the circumstances that they are because of alcohol or drug abuse, or laziness, or because maybe some might think that they must have done something to deserve their circumstances, I am telling you, that I know it is a tough life. It's gotta be. Just look into one of their eyes sometime...... and you will see the pain.
I am no way bragging or boasting......... this is peanuts compared to what should and could be done. But------- it is something that I think anyone who is living on the streets would appreciate. A small meal, something to drink, a note of encouragement, and a napkin to wipe their mouth with afterward. If is something tangible, and affordable------- something my kids can relate to and enjoy giving. You should have seen how excited Anna was to help put these three little care packages together. I will carry them in my car and give them away every chance I get. My kids can't wait till they are gone, so we could make more.
I challenge to do something similar with your kids.
"Sometimes I'd like to ask God why he allows poverty, famine, and injustice in the world when He could do something about it... but I am afraid God might ask me the same question." --Anonymous
38 comments:
Great challenge and great idea! I like it and will try to do the same. Sad to say, but we see a lot of homeless here in Houston.
I have done this too. The only thing I would try to stay away from the microwaveable entrees..
Most of the homeless don't have access to a microwave. I also try to put in some fresh fruit if I have it, because of their nutrition being so poor. Keep up the good works, Laurie
What a wonderful idea. I will talk to my boy's tonight and put some toghter to pass out. We often see peoople askng for money for food on the turn arounds, it can get warm here so I am sure this would be a blessing. I have some coupons for the smuckers crustables, so I think a juice and some chips and a nutri bar would be good.
yeah now I am excited.
good for you!!!
May God bless and keep you .... You are already an Angel...Thank you for caring.
It really is a blessing to help others. My dad is the Pastor of H.E.L.P. ( HEvens Ever Lasting Promises) Ministries here in Houston Texas. We are downtown every Saturday having church on the street and feeding the homeless. January 1st was the anniversary of beging HELP and start of our 18th year.
What a beautiful idea! We have no homeless here, but we do have people who struggle every day. Who says I can't do this for them! :) THANK-YOU!!!
dawn
This is a good idea! A friend of mine always kept gift cards for $5-10 each to places close by, Mc Donalds, albertsons, etc. in her glove box, and gave them out to people who looked like they needed them.
A couple months ago I was getting ready to go get a lunch for work at the store. Something easy and fast, we were low on groceries. Someone was in the parking lot asking for $$, change, to get something to eat. I honestly had not even a penny in my purse but, I had my credit card with me. I bought myself a lunchable, and figured it couldn't hurt to grab two. I took it out, found the man abnd handed it to him. I felt almost silly as I told him I had no way to get cash but, this is what I could do, I could help him have something to. He took it. I'm not sure if he was happy with it or not...but, I still felt good. I felt like I had done the right things. I did not ignore this man or pass judgement, and I helped in the way that I could. I hope he appreciated it.
I love the idea but I can't help to remember giving a homeless man some food once from a store and he said what am I gonna do with this, I need money... I totally didn't expect that from him. It make me a little angry on why he wanted the money. I know it was for cigs or alcohol...
Nice thought though!
I've already spent my allowance for the month, but next time I have some $ to spare I'll try to buy some vitamins and some food and write a letter to go with it. I think it's very important for everyone to know they are loved, and that people (and God) care about them. Thank you for encouraging me to do this.
We do that but hand them out in down town seattle, it is a good idea to keep them in your car. We also put in a pair of those knit gloves and black socks. (We buy them at the after thanksgiving sales so they are usually half off, or costco probably has a good deal on socks) but I always buy black so it wont show the dirt quickly and can be worn longer.
I completely agree! We need to do that. We always see people at a certain intersection in Dallas and always get our money out for them. But we need to do more.
A few years ago some teens walked up to me and my girls in a mall. They said they wanted to give something to our girls. I thought it was some sales pitch. It was a youth group. They said their youth pastor told them to take $10 of their spending money and buy something that they liked and bring it back. So they did. Then he told them, "Now you have an hour to go give that to a complete stranger." Well, it was very meaningful to us because we were really struggling. And it blessed my heart to know that teens are so servant hearted. Each thing my girls received was exactly what they would do. So we set out the next weekend and did the same thing. They each took $20 and bought 2 things they would have bought for themselves. Then they gave them away, 2 items, 2 give aways each. People were blown away. We just explained some people had done it to us, we were doing it for them, and we hoped they knew that God gave what he loved most away too.
What a wonderful idea. We always try to buy the homeless a meal when we travel to larger cities and see them waiting outside for help. Someone once told us that if we give in a good gesture (when you must give money as a restaurant isn't nearby), you can only hope and pray that they use the money for their needs and not their habits. I truly do think that you give from your heart and allow God to work out the rest. I haven't given in awhile to the homeless (not as visible in our small town) and you've given me another challenge to help others locally this year!! Thanks.
Christine, I have been a lurker for months (since you were in Ukraine getting ready for Dennis to come home) and had to finally comment. Wow, what a great idea! My kids help us pack up cases of toothpaste, socks and other things for orphans in Ukraine but, this is such a great way to make a difference right in our own hometown! We accept your challenge and will enjoy shopping and creating the bags for the car. Thank you!!
:-)
Theresa
Rockledge, FL
Christine! This is a cool thing...to pack things that will stay "good" and just leave them in the car for that time you see someone and want to have something to give!
LOVE THIS.
What a wonderful idea!
This is a fantastic CHALLENGE! Thanks for bring it on.
SO did I read that you moved? I guess in my hiatius a lot can change. Are you still in Ca?
LOVE this idea! What can I put in it that won't go bad in my car? Rmember: FL and major heat. Water, sweets, bag of chips or pretzles but what meal item?
I have done the $5 gift cards but this is WAY better with kids! We are getting ready to do our "playdate with a purpose" in February and do a Valentines Day Party for the kids at the rescue Mission downtown. . . Maybe I can include that in my challenge?. I'm going to post this on my blog as soon as I know what kind of meals! Can I use your picture?
Brandi
What a great idea! :)
Hi Brandi! I bought Hormel microwaveable dinners that don't require adding water or cooking. Yes, it says micorwaveable, but they could eat it cold and it is non-perishable. I have also bought vienna sausages, packages of tuna with crackers, and cans of ready to eat soup with a pop top lid. And yes, you can use my picture.
I always keep a box of total bars, cereal bars or something of that sort next to me in the van and when I see the sign "Outa work, outa money, outa food" or something similar I give them a couple of bars. I have NEVER had any of them be anything but greatful towards the food.
That's a great idea. Christine, you are such a giving, warm-hearted person, I am honored to call you my friend.
How loving and caring.
Great challenge.
bless you
xo
I will admit that I have gotten out of the habit of giving to homeless. One night, hubby and I were coming out of a restaurant and there was a person asking for money outside the door. We had tons of leftovers that we had boxed up (we had our portions halfed so we'd have some to give) and we went outside to the person and gave them to her. We were so happy and she basically threw them down and cursed us and told us we should have just given her the money. It was awful. I used to always just give and pray that whatever I gave was used the way God saw fit. But after that, I just couldn't. I decided to take up a different "charity" and got away from that. But maybe it's time to start again. These little pre-made bags are a great idea. I volunteer with the American Cancer Society and something like this would be great to leave in the rooms at their hospital (Hope Lodge) for the incoming families, too. Hmmm.....
AND this fits in with my theme for the year: Shine in 09. I'm going to do my part to make sure God's light shines bright in 09.
Great idea. We should do that. I usually give cash to beggars, especially old ones, but not to kids, because if they make a good living off begging, they'll never be sent to school. But food packs would be a great idea for anyone, young or old. We have these 100% fruit bars that would be nice.
You are such a loving and giving person, Christine. What a wonderful thing to do with your children and have them learn to help someone that needs it.
I have never seen a homeless person in my town or the surrounding towns. What I do is give a lot in the fall for the food drives and for Christmas presents for the families our dept. at work sponsor and the toy drive in town. I also have given quite a lot to a single mom at work that is having a hard time (and has her mother with cancer living with her too). She told me that her 4 year old would not have had a Christmas if it weren't for me. I held back my tears as I heard that. I now have two more bags for her daughter so her mom will have presents for Valentine's Day and Easter gifts for her.
We all help in whatever way we can.
We did this at Christmas time and it was great!! I will continue to do this because it was such a blessing. We put packs of crackers, gum, chapstick, travel size toothpaste, toothbush, comb, Hot hands (it's cold here) things like that... most of these items you can find in packs so it is cheaper. Our church also gave us a ton of girl scout cookies to give with our bags. At Christmas we wrapped up our bags and the people were very excited to get a gift to open!
I am not a fan of giving money but will always offer to buy them food.
I think that it is very important to teach our children to see people the way Jesus sees them.
Thank you for sharing this! I never got around to posting our bags. It is time to make new ones!
Our county has a program called MCREST. Prescreened homeless men, women and children are put up in a church for a week at a time, given hot home cooked meals, bus passes to get to work, hot showers every day, and a warm, safe place to sleep. I volunteered with our church for the first time last year by calculating volunteer hours and organizing a drama as one of the nights of entertainment. It was really intimidating at first. But, like you said, they are hurting people who need to hear and experience the love of Christ.
PS...we're in Michigan :)
Another good thing is to put together hygiene packets. If you have friends or family who stay in hotels a lot, the hotel soaps and shampoos are the perfect size. Also good to include a toothbrush, toothpaste, razor and deodorant. For women's hygiene packets you may want to include some tampons and pads.
Socks are also a good idea. Homeless people sometimes wear their socks until they're crusty and then throw them out because they have no way to wash them. (In warm climates, at least.)
Think about your local climate and the things you'd need to survive on the streets. It really varies depending on locality.
One commenter mentioned homeless people not being as visible in a small town. S/he had it dead-on: they're still there, but sometimes you just don't see them because they're not out begging. (This is true of a lot of homeless people in general, though.) I used to work for a small-town homelessness agency. Aside from those who made it to our shelter, we also had other people receiving services who camped out, lived in their cars, lived in rundown houses missing parts of their roofs or walls, etc. This was in a place with very harsh winters, so it was especially bad. When you live out of the way in a rural area, your homelessness is practically invisible.
Wow you are awesome.. you are truly a gift from god... That is an awesome thing to do.. We don't really have mnay in our area because we live in a small town and its cold here but great idea.. I will keep that in mind...
I love this idea, and the napkin is such a thoughtful touch. You are such an inspiration!
Love this idea, we will put some together this weekend. My kids have asked me when we're going to have something to give to the people we see sometimes asking for handouts, as sometimes I have handed out a few dollars, but I so rarely carry cash on me. These are much better ideas. I think we will throw in a toothbrush / paste, and maybe a few other items.
It has been a habit for my family to buy some extra thing every time we go shopping to give to the homeless or one of the charities. In Israel we like to send and give out gifts to the Gush Katif evacuees and to those in Sderot whose homes are often damaged or destroyed by Hamas rockets. In Hungary we have the "regulars" at certain points of the city, my kids actually look forward to seeing them again.
Another important thing is that we like to do for/with homeless people is to pay for the annual vaccination for their dogs--as many have one--at a local vet clinic.
I love that idea and I love the quote at the bottom! Where are things at with Dennis' sugery plans?
What a lovely idea!!
Christine, I used your food bag for the homeless/needy as part of the devotional Daniel and I shared with our church's homeschool group yesterday. I wrote John 3:17 in large print to show through on the back side.
In the early 1900's, a Canadian named Jack Miner was the 1st person to tag ducks and geese. He felt God wanted him to put his contact info, A BIBLE VERSE, and a # as a way of learning about/caring for geese. Not only did he get letters of blessings and gratitude, a royal title from King Charles VI, but a revival broke out among a remote tribe of Indians and Eskimos!
We talked about how God's Word will accomplish His purpose...but WE have to get the Word out to those who NEED to hear the Good News. Isn't it awesome that God didn't send His son to condemn us, but to SAVE us!!!!
Thanks for the idea!!!
Great challenge. I don't do it nearly as often as I should but I do drop food off to homeless people. Around Thanksgiving I dropped off a large pizza and bottles of water to 2 homeless me sitting near the grocery store ... probably not the healthiest thing, but I saw them sitting there as I was going to my car and felt like I needed to do something for them.
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