Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Small attempts


I'm looking for some ideas--maybe you can give me some! Here's what I'm thinking about right now. Occasionally I see homeless (?) or at least begging men sitting at the highway exits (you know, with a sign saying something like "Anything helps" or some such) and I would like to be able to help. I don't have money to give, but I'd like to be more prepared.

Every Sunday we stop for doughnuts after church and I give one to the homeless (?) guy who sits at our exit--sometimes with a tract, other times just the doughnut. He looks for us now :) and we have a short superficial few seconds chat. It's just a doughnut, but it's what I can do.

Today I saw another fellow, at another exit, and I wished I had something small to share with him. It started me thinking, what could I keep in my car to give to guys like this? It couldn't be something melty, like chocolate, and nothing that would spoil. Any ideas? Please feel free to share your ideas with me in the comments section!

3 comments:

  1. I'm a diabetic, I have to keep foods in my car in case of low blood sugar as well. So here's a few of the items I keep, cheese/peanut butter and cracker packages, granola bar type bars (any of those boxed bars, even the chocolate ones if they get "melty" don't have enough chocolate in them to make it "bad". Sometimes we notice that jars of pb go really cheap, for the family we stock up then, I would say if you see jars of PB for 1 dollar or less that would give a whole lot of nutrition! And keep really well. (I actually keep a jar in the car, it's fast hunger stoppers for my kids as well! lol When they are crying about going to Mc Donald's! lol haha) In the fall a lot of fast food places give our really cheap gift certificates, our mc d's in NYC for a dollar you could get 3 hamburgers, 3 ice cream cones, 3 milks, and 3 french fry gift certificates! (a total of 12 for a dollar!). Wendy's also does it for their frosties. I stock up on them for quick and cheap treats for the kids, when we are out.

    When we lived in NYC we didn't have many of them on the exit ramps, mainly outside of restaurants like Dunkin Donuts, my husband would always buy them a donut and a coffee and they always seemed to appreciate it. And he also gave them any spare change he had, if he had any. Like you when we went to the same areas day after day or even just our own neighborhood when we lived in Brooklyn, we got to know some of them pretty well. So just felt connected to them in a way you know.

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  2. Hi Sheila,

    I'm here from MJ's and I agree with your MagnoliaWhisper. Either the granola bars or the pkgs of peanut butter crackers would be great and pretty inexpensive. I'm sure you can get a pkg of 8 for under $2.00 and they would keep well.

    Blessings,
    Cheryl (Shi-anne)


    granola bar

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  3. I live in Miami where there is a lot of homelessness. I always try to carry soft granola bars, many of the homeless are missing teeth.

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