Let’s Feed The Homeless Together- Thursday Nights.

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What a nice feeling to help someone who can’t seem to help themselves.  An even Nicer feeling, is to teach our kids, to do the same thing.  Chances are, when they grow up, and have their Own children, they’ll do the same for them!  You know the old, ‘do unto others…’ way of life.  It works.

This feeding of the homeless, is designed to provide a meal and social interaction to our Uptown homeless population, and they do it every Thursday evening.  The project takes place at ‘The Homeless Resource Center.’

If you’d like  to volunteer to feed the homeless in Charlotte, you will be required to serve food to guests, or organize clothing or toiletries to be distributed to them.  Once everyone has been served, volunteers are encouraged, but not required, to offer some sort of social interaction to these homeless individuals. What a way to make someone feel human again… Maybe we should All live on the street for one day out of our lives, just so we’d know what it feels like to be on the other side.

There will be two social workers and two armed guards on site at all times, mainly because some of the guests may have mental health issues and/or addictions to drugs and/or alcohol, and it’s just a good idea, to head off any possibility of someone losing control.

The rules include must being 18 or older, and attending an orientation is not a requirement, but you will have to contact Hands On Charlotte to sign up at 704.333.7471 or dougm@handsoncharlotte.org.

Here’s the website too, if you need more info!  Steele Creek Outreach http://www.steelecreekoutreach.org

Finally, it’s run by Steele Creek Outreach, so if you have questions, contact them directly.

I’m taking my two eldest, along with myself- and I’m going to do this.  I remember watching my Mom, when I was a child….

She’d always contact a local church or synagogue, to find a family in need, during the Thanksgiving holiday.  Every Year, we’d make two full-blown feasts.  One for our family, and one for theirs.  We’d deliver it to their home,  complete with pretty paper plates and silver colored plastic utensils, a tablecloth, and plastic wine glasses for the adults.  We’d set the table, and never stay, wanting them to hold on to their pride, and understand that WE understood, this set of circumstances can happen to any of us, at any time.  It’s not necessarily the People that fail, but the situation around us, can fail.

I’ll never forget those families, year after year… and I’ll never forget the effort that my Mom put in, year after year for someone she didn’t even know.

One year, two, skip a few- 35 years later, I found myself doing the same thing, but during the Christmas season instead.

We’d find a family in need, and my kids would go shopping, and pick out appropriate gifts for the ages of the children, and I would pick out gifts for the parents.  We’d wrap them beautifully, (makes such a difference to receive a gift that has sparkly paper and bows!), we’d even buy gifts for the pets, if they had any!  We’d show up Christmas Eve, or on Chanukah, give them hugs, hand the bags over, and wish them the happiest of seasons Ever! It felt GREAT!  One of those moments, when you know for a fact, that you are ‘your mother’s daughter.’

I hope my kids do it too- and keep the tradition alive!  Nothing feels better than being the cause of the light that shows up in someone’s eyes. No matter the reason….