feed the hungry

I have figured out a new entry point for this goal, so I am going to start doing this soon.

I have started donating money to various organizations to help families for the holidays, and I just donated some necessities for a specific family. Though I’m not feeding them, I’m still trying to help some people out. It’s not for me, it’s for them, and whatever I can do will help.

I gave a homeless man five bucks and he was thrilled, told me he was going straight over to “Chicken Filet” to eat. (I actually prefer Chicken Filet to the place’s real name.) As I was stuck at a red light, I had the chance to watch him walk over to Chik-Fil-A and I was happy he’d told me the truth instead of walking to the gas station and buying beer, which the cynical part of me had expected.

Orlando homeless (with um, internet access?) are welcome to a snack at my place! Any starving folk worldwide (again, with internet access?) I will happily send you food if you give me your address!

I go and click on a link on www.thehungersite.com. It’s easy, free and you get to help people (1.1 cups of staple food is donated for each click). I make sure to go there everyday.

Did you ever feel that something was pulling at you and would not let go? Well, that is what I feel my life has been moving at. I worked at Westinghouse in a small transformer plant until they shut down. At that time I was unemployed so I had a chance to go to school. Chef’s school. A new one opened in Pittsburgh so I went. I was in the first class there. What school does is to give you confidence. I have always enjoyed cooking and this fit right in. I ended up owning a partnership in a restaurant. It was small but still was 100+ hours a week. I learned to cook to say the least but I feel that deeper was something that was really working at me. To open a soup kitchen or to feed the hungry. There are places around that give meals a couple days a week but no place here has a running kitchen. I got out of the business because of a disability but I still think that I could manage it.

Last night my fiance and I volunteered our time to package meals that were being shipped to starving children around the world. It was part of our church’s “50 days of service” program that encourages members of the congregation and community to serve in some way during Lent. In 2 hours we packaged enough dry food to feed 54 children for one year! It felt so good in my heart knowing I did something that helps us move toward ending world hunger.

I was in Oxford on Friday, the day before new years eve. I was driving around with my best friend from school days and we were talking about poverty and homelessness in general. Then we had an idea – why don’t we find someone homeless and feed them right now! It took us about 10 minutes to find a young girl sat on her haunches with a paper cup in front of her. I pulled down the car window and asked her if she was homeless, to which she replied ‘yes’. I asked her if she wanted some food and again, she replied in the affirmative. ‘What would you like to eat’, I asked her. She said, “anything, I haven’t eaten for days”. I looked at my friend and we sped of to the nearest 24 store (it was 11pm). My friend went in and bought £10.00 worth of fresh food – sandwiches, drinks, snacks, fruit. We got back to her laden with 2 shopping bags and she was just totally overwhelmed.

I asked her about her plans for the night – she was just trying to get enough money to pay for a bed-n-breakfast. So although we’d solved her food problem, we were unable to solve her accomodation issue – which bothered me.

We spoke for a while – and it turned out she was exactly the same age as us – 36, and we had some people in common. How she ended up on the street I don’t know. We did not pry and did not ask questions. We are not there to judge.

We just wanted to feed a hungry stomach. Before we left some of her friends turned up – also homeless. So we think she may have shared her food with them also. So three hungry stomachs filled.

This took no longer than 45 minutes, and it did make a difference. I asked my friend to look out for her and help her again if he could. He has pledged to feed someone hungry in Oxford once a week.

Its not about just feeding a stomach. You talk to them, offer a smile, a kind word – and this kindles hope and hopefully one day a better life. Also, its not about making myself feel good. How could I feel good after giving her food, but still knowing that she had another 2/3 hours to save money for her accomodation? We can only do so much, but we start with small steps. Feeding them gives themk energy and hope that will hopefully get them through comfortably right now.

Last night I went to see the Christmas lights (Oxford Street and Regent Street). They were very beautiful as usual – a huge amount of expense gone to lighting up buildings. I drive past Selfridges and Hamleys – all decked out with amazing window displays. Then I saw the other side of London – the homeless. In the doorway of Hamleys was lying a homeless person. I stopped and gave him some food I’d bought earlier. It was absolutely freezing and he was probably hungry. Lets feed the hungry. Go for a drive wherever you live, make a note of where the poor and hungry people live. Try and buy a meal for one person a week. This only costs £2 or £3 – no more. Don’t give them money – they may use it for drink or drugs, but do give them food. We can’t judge people for WHY they are homeless, we don’t know what problems they have had in life. But we can ensure that they don’t sleep on an empty stomach. Thats a very small act of kindness that any one of us can make – just once a week. Who will join me in this? Once a week – to feed someone hungry.