Fall for the Homeless 2016

FALL FOR THE HOMELESS 2017 (Click Here)

On 11/25/16, I was able to gift my friends with bags of goodies from my fall for the homeless drive. Well it turned into a three day event, but well worth it. If you haven’t read my first blog about why I’m doing this, please do so here.

This has been such a rewarding experience. In the bags were snacks, clothing(t-shirts and/or jackets), hygiene products and items to help protect my friends during the fall and winter months (see picture below). The looks on their faces were absolutely priceless! I must admit, I was a little intimidated by the response I received from the few individuals I came in contact with on thanksgiving (Day 1 of handing bags out). They weren’t happy about their bags and threw them on the floor without looking at what was inside. This was a little tough to take but I knew I couldn’t get discouraged. I simply reminded myself that I may receive responses similar to this at times, if I truly want to touch lives. So I came home, pulled myself together and set out to get better results the next day.

Which is exactly what I did! There were more people out, everyone was very friendly and their responses were much better. I even came across a man who was able to give me valuable feedback in relation to my non-profit and things they’d like to see when receiving “blessing bags”. His spirits were so high, he was selling the monthly newsletter STREETZine. If you haven’t had a chance to read it please look into it. Our friends have partnered with The Stewpot which allows different individuals to tell and sell their story as a way for personal income. He took so much pride in selling this paper and what it stood for, which was awesome to see.

We met this man at about 4:30pm when the night air was beginning to creep in and we noticed that he didn’t have on a coat. Luckily, we had one for him in one of the bags and it fit perfectly! To see him put that on warmed all of our hearts. I am beyond grateful for every single person who donated and helped make this possible.  To see how grateful my friends were to receive care packages, literally warmed my heart and gives me more encouragement to get my nonprofit up and running. To be able to care and provide for those who may otherwise be overlooked is one of the best feelings I’ve ever felt.

Forever grateful! Thank you friends for allowing me to help more friends who may have lost their way somewhere along the line and need a little love to help them get back on track.

I will continue to put together bags and work to improve the items inside of them to match the seasons and the personal needs of our friends.

Here are pics to keep you updated with the process, items in the bags and examples of the newspaper to look for to help our friends financially.