A Reflection on Giving Food to Homeless People

I rolled out of bed in slow motion not wanting to get up and go out into the cold… I did not want to have to spend my day off packaging food and walking the street to find homeless people. It wasn’t the homeless people that bothered me… it was my own selfishness that was getting in the way. I was thinking to myself… “I get up every day to go help people at the hospital, can’t I enjoy a couple days off now and then?” Ugh! But at the same time I thought to myself… “I am in a warm apartment, eating good food, and watching TV while thousands of PEOPLE are out in the cold, hungry!” I had mixed feelings, but the dread of having to go out seemed to consume me more than the guilt… a serious problem! Ironic too, since I decided to dedicate my life to caring for people and since normally I feel guilty when I see the homeless on the streets.

When I walked into the CS office, my mood started to turn. We packed up the snack bags in a mere 10 minutes and there we sat chit-chatting away for the next half hour. It was great! It helped put me in better spirits so that I gave with desire and not out of “just doing it to fulfill a requirement.” As we walked out of the building, we were immediately confronted with our first homeless person, but he was passed by because we were suppose to meet up with Trinity students to distribute food. That still bothers me! WHY? There was no reason that we could not have given to those first few people we passed by! But thank God for those people who are willing to step up and take action into their own hands. One of the CS students started passing out bags. Soon others began to follow. We rely on societal norms and peer influence way too much sometimes. We all need to be that person that will step outside the boundaries sometimes!

Photo by  Keith Harris

We split into small groups and roamed the streets seeking out the homeless. It was actually very enjoyable despite the negative feelings I had had earlier! Our group was fairly successful! We passed out quite a few bags! We had persons refuse the snacks, thank us for the snacks, and even ask for extras. I think that is what touched my heart the most… the mother who had a child and asked for a snack for her son. What do you say to that?  A couple blocks later, we walked around a corner where a man was sitting with a cup of change… everyone passed him by. They honestly NEVER saw him. Not ignored him, but did not see him. We have become way too use to homelessness that we have tuned them out! It starts out as intentionally zoning them out, but we get so “good” at it that we don’t even realize that we are doing it any more. Sick! Just sick! But I think that most of us can attest to doing this! Later, we had a more light-hearted experience with a panhandler who played an April fool’s joke on us. We all laughed. Look! They are people too. Feelings. Emotions. Thoughts. Of course we all know that but we don’t all let our hearts believe that. Sad!

I hope that I don’t let those negative feelings that inflicted me that morning ever persuade me to turn a blind eye to the harsh realities of the world. I need to tune in to the problem of homelessness! Become aware. Not just say, “Yeah there are homeless people. How sad!” But actually let that sadness become personal. I pray for God to move my heart to help those in need ALWAYS. I need to work at it! Pray about it! And let my heart hurt with those who hurt. <Sigh!> Not fun but necessary. I have a lot of thinking, praying, and actions to take. But just as importantly, society has a lot of thinking, praying, and action taking to do! Until we join together to make a difference, homelessness will continue to increase one PERSON at a time!


~ Written by Chelsey Wentzel