Helping the Homeless this Winter
Helping the Homeless this Winter
Helping the Homeless this Winter
Last night my wife Joanie and I participated in a great thing. As a result, I sent the following email to my friends and family, which I think is worth taking the time to read...
An associate of my wife,a law enforcement officer named Kym, mentioned that she and a friend were planning to gather and hand out warm clothes, shoes, socks, gloves, etc to the homeless in downtown Orlando. This was not a part of any charity or coalition but just a few people getting together to do something good for others less fortunate. My wifeinformed that she had volunteered us to help. Of course being a typical busy-with-other-stuff man Iresistedat first but my kind and tenacious wife made it clear that I would be participating.
An even dozen people met under the I-4 Bridge at Church St in Orlando. Joanie and I broughta big red wagon (Radio Flyer) we had bought to take our Lab, Casey, for his daily walks when he became too old to walk, and we filled it to overflowing with the donatedblankets, jackets,shoes and socks and everyone else had large bags of clothes. Together we walked through the downtown streets, between I-4 and Lake Eola, and passed out the items to the homeless (mostly men of everyrace)we met along the way, stopping to hear their stories, one even sang us a song - all were extremely thankful and grateful. We dropped off the excess items (which were few) at the Church St Mission and the Women's shelter. I had plannedon treating everyone for Pizza but by the time we got back to the cars at about 10pm everyone was beat - emotionally and physically.
As someone who has spent time on the street - seems like so many lifetimes ago - the experience really hit home for me andI found myself choking back emotions as some of those forgotten memories came flooding back. My wife's tears flowed freely after a few particularly touching encounters.
The experience was a huge reminder to me, andI believe to everyone who participated, how luckywe are, and despite all of our petty wants and needs, we have more than we could ever ask for in the simple things we sometimes take for granted - like; a safe and secure roof over our heads, the ability to make our space warm or cool with the touch of a button, clean clothes and socks, shoes that fit, a warm clean bed, a hot meal at the end of our day and another's hand to hold to get us through the tough times.
The people we met had none of these things, most through no fault of their own. A few were former psychiatric patients who have had no where to go since Florida shut its mental wards and put them on the street earlier in this decade, others had no education, no family and no jobs and were just getting by with the occasional day labor job or on what wit and courage they could muster. Of course there were the obvious drunkards and addicts but in our eyes those disorders made them no less human.
I met a man named Vinnie. He was a big man, tall but gaunt with an unruly beard and weary blue eyes, trying to stay warm on a bench on the banks of Lake Eola. His sized 15 feet were swollen andhalf stuffed into undersized white socks and size 12 green plastic Croc's. It was very cold and he was shaking under a threadbare blanket. As we gave each other worried looks we wrapped Vinnie in a thick blanket, gave him stretch gloves for his huge hands, a knit hat for his head and clean socks. He thanked us profusely and asked God to bless us. Unfortunately we had no shoes even close to his size. I wishedI could have done more and askedfor his name and where I could find him, andpromised to find a pair of size 15 shoes and return. May God keep Vinnie warm and safe were my thoughts as we left his side.
As we walked towards the next unfortunate soul I couldn't help but look at the opulence that surrounded me in downtown Orlando with a certain feeling of disgust. "This says a lot about the society we live in." I said to my new law enforcement friend asI gestured to a richly ornamented fountain and then back to the poor homeless and shivering Vinnie.
I was not aware, but apparently Orlando, in its greater wisdom, has passed a law making it illegal to feed the homeless! It's hard to imagine that in what is billed as one of America's happiest cities I can feed a stray dog or cat but I can go to jail for feeding a homeless, hungry human being! "Shameful" is all I can say on this.
In any case, I have made a personal vow to not only return to Vinnie, with a size 15 pair of shoes, but to make additional trips with clothing for the homeless of Orlando and will probably even expand the help to the homeless of Daytona Beach as well and everywhere in between where the homeless can be found.
To this end I am asking my friends and family to not only keep a lookout for size 15 shoes but to look through your closets and take a few minutes to stuff a garbage bag with the warm clothing you no longer wear. You won't even have to deliver the stuff -just call me, I'll stop by and pick it up -and make sure the items get to the people on the streets that need them and not justinto a storefront and sold as charity items - since the homeless rarely get the money or opportunity to visit those charitable resellers.
If you would like to participate in the next round of assistance then just let me know via phone call or email as I'd like nothing more than to make this a monthly thing, especially during the winter months andI know my new law enforcement friend, who has become an inspiration to me,will be thrilled that even more people care enough to get involved.
Thanks andI will be awaiting those calls and emails!
Follow Up:
The above email was sent in early December 2010. It is now the day before Christmas 2010 and so many people have come forward with bags of warm clothes, etc as well as offers to help distribute, we are planning to again reach out to the homeless. This time not just in the City of Orlando, but in Sanford and Daytona, FL as well It warms my heart to know that the people I work with and associate with outside of work, despite their own difficulties (2010 has been a tough year for everyone) , have taken the initiative to help such a worthy cause.
PS. Vinnie did get his shoes; I found a pair of size 15 sneakers in Walmart for $12 and my wife and I found Vinnie the very next day still sitting on the same bench. Vinnie told us some of his story and asked God to bless us for our kindness. My wife cried and I smiled a warm smile as we drove the hour back to our home.
PSS. The next time you think that one person cant possibly make a difference think of my new law enforcement friend, Kym she motivated one dozen people to come together to help others in need and as a result I reached out to dozens more in my email - and they are reaching even more in theirs one person canmake a difference! Can you - no, will you - make a difference in your own home town?
- RolandJ Duquette
http://rolandsplace.yolasite.com/
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