| old
clothes from someone else's closet
By Brooke Reed - March 2002
On Saint Patrick's Day, seven of us went to down town San Diego
to serve the homeless. We made 160 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,
put them in sandwich bags, and then loaded the cars up with the
sandwiches, clothes, crackers, juices, waters, and Twinkies. Since
this was my first time ever participating in something like this,
I didn't really know what to expect, so I was a little nervous.
We drove around until we found a street where there were quite a
few people to feed. We then pulled the cars over, got out, and pulled
out all of the stuff to give to them.
At first, just a few people came over to see what we were doing,
and then as word spread, many more gathered around. We passed out
the stuff we brought, and the people were so excited, even just
to get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Once we were done at
that spot, we went to find another one, and passed out the items
again. One of the coolest things was that Taylor (age 7) and Tannyr
(age 4) got the chance to come and help pass out items to these
people. Tannyr was so excited to run around handing out juices to
the homeless people, and Taylor truly showed compassion for them
and their circumstances. It meant so much to the homeless people
to see two young children caring enough to pass out food to them.
At one point, three of us including Taylor went across the street
to pass out sandwiches and juice to a family with four young boys.
We gave them each three sandwiches, and their faces lit up with
excitement at the sight of them. It broke our hearts. Taylor helped
hand out the sandwiches and we talked with them for a while. After
a couple of minutes, the oldest boy went over to Taylor and tapped
her on the shoulder. She turned to him, and he pulled a shiny, silver,
marble looking rock out of his pocket and gave it to her. This boy
that didn't have a home, let alone many toys, was willing to give
up his rock in return for Taylor's kindness. That was a true act
of selflessness.
This day really put life into perspective for all of us that went
down to San Diego. We take things for granted all the time, and
here were these people that were satisfied with some peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches and some old clothes cleaned out from someone
else's closet. They were even excited at the thought of getting
these things. We so often only think about ourselves, but look at
what happens when we do something for others. These people were
so appreciative to have food and clothes, and definitely served
as an example to us. |
