Helping the Homeless: On-the-Go Bags
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I once had coffee with a homeless man.
It wasn’t planned or anything. It just happened when he sat uncomfortably close to me at a Starbucks in Chicago. Here I was sitting in Starbucks with my caramel mocha, Bible open having a quiet time, belly full from breakfast and blatantly ignoring the homeless man right next to me. After a mental battle of how to respond to his invasion of my bubble, I figured Jesus wouldn’t ignore this man so I shouldn’t either. I looked up, asked him his name, and started talking to him.
Two hours later we parted ways. I left that conversation with an entirely new perspective of the homeless. This was years ago but two things have really stuck with me:
1) One of the hardest things about being homeless and on the streets is not being acknowledged. As someone in need, it is worse when people simply ignore you and pretend you don’t exist rather than simply being blatantly rejected. He told me he’d rather someone make eye contact and reject his request for money or food than to simply pretend he doesn’t exist.
2) When I asked him what were the most helpful things someone could GIVE him he told me: 1) A night in a hotel. It gives a person a chance to shower, shave, sleep in a bed, and feel like a human. 2) Water and socks. Water made sense to me but socks? When I asked him to explain he told me how a lot of his time is spent walking. If he doesn’t have socks or they are worn down too thin, he would get blisters quickly. Not good for a person dependent on walking with no first aid kit.
Fast forward five years.
I am driving my warm minivan away from the mall on a very cold evening. I pull up to a stoplight and find myself practically face to face with a cold man standing on the corner with a sad sign asking for food. My mind is driven back to my morning with my homeless friend, and I am struck at what little I have actually done since that conversation.
I’m fully aware that I can’t fix the problem of homelessness, but I shouldn’t allow the feeling of helplessness to keep me from doing something, anything for the people I come in contact with.
This is where the idea hits me: what if I were to always keep a bag of goodies in my car specifically ready to hand out to homeless?
So, instead of just thinking about the idea and talking about it, I DID it.
*Update* Recently, a production company, Foreground Productions made a three minute video documenting my story and the idea of making homeless bags. Here is a short video sharing my story.
I went to the dollar store and $30 later, I had enough stuff to make six goodie bags for the homeless. You can be sure the bag includes socks and water too 🙂
Here is what I stashed this round of bags with:
- A bottle of water
- A pair of socks
- Trail Mix
- A toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Ibuprofen
- Kleenex
I made up six bags of these items and put three in my car and three in my husband’s car. One is currently underneath my seat so I can easily grab it while driving. The other two are in the back of my car so I can easily re-stash when necessary.
If you have kids, this could be an awesome way to teach about caring for the poor and thinking about what their needs may be. It would also be fun to involve them in stuffing the bags and giving them away. My daughter is too young for this right now, but I hope we are still giving our On-the-Go bags away when she’s old enough to comprehend what we are doing.
I’ve had these bags in my car for a few weeks now and had the opportunity to give one away the other day. I hope and pray it helped him in some way. If anything it communicated, “I see you. I care for you,” which according to my Starbucks friend, is one of the best things we can do for the homeless.
Bless you! I lived in chicago for ten years, and just decided to move back home to the south this month. It’s a hard city to survive in: mentally, physically and spiritually! God is being worked out of this country, and in major liberal metro areas like Chicago, twice as fast. Thank you for your courage to stand and practice what the Word says, in a time and a space that doesn’t usually commit the time to listen to what our hearts are calling us to do 🙂
Glad they can be an encouragement to you. I’m sure there are plenty of opportunities to hand them out in Chicago!
Maybe add in a bottle of hand sanitizer too bc if you meet a homeless mother it would be really helpful in keeping her baby and herself healthy.
And an old T shirt made into a cloth diaper if the sewing skills are a part of your skill set, sadly it’s not in mine.
Great ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Just a FYI hand sanitizer is not good to use on children. The AMA published an article years ago. It kills BOTH god and bad germs! Baby wipes are a fantastic alternative. Clean without destroying.
Thanks for the suggestion, Terri.
I love this idea too. Our women’s Bible study group at church put together about 100 of these to keep in our cars to give to the homeless. We also included a handwritten notecard with a Bible verse and a message that we would be praying for them. This was some time ago, and now that my daughter is 6, I think we’ll make a trip to the dollar store to make up some more care packages! She is starting to notice the homeless and wants to help in the sweetest way and urgently says “mo-ooom,” from the backseat, urging me to give away all the snacks within my reach from the drivers seat.
Meg, I love the idea of putting a verse and a personal note inside the bags. We did that with the kids at church this Christmas, and my kids were so excited to pass ours out. Then, right afterwards in the car we prayed for the man and his dog. They still talk about it. We need to make some more soon!
Throughout the year I look for bargains and sales for toiletries for men. I buy at Big Lots and the various dollar stores throughout the year so the financial sting doesn’t hurt all at one time. At Christmas I make up 100 goody bags for the homeless mission in town. They house 50-100 homeless men at a time. The men are allowed to stay a maximum of 90 days to have shelter and get their lives back on track; find jobs, clothing etc. I often wondered what happened to them during the Christmas holidays being without family and friends other than the residents at the mission. So, I put together these goody bags which contain a razor, shaving crème, toothbrush, toothpaste, bathing soap, deodorant, gum, candy cane, and comb. Just something to open on Christmas day. I’m not part of an organization or church but love to share whatever blessings I was given throughout the year with those who don’t have. I like the idea of the socks and that to will be added to my bags for next Christmas.
These bags are a great idea! I feel so uncomfortable simply giving money as I hope it isn’t used for the wrong things, you know? But giving tangible, useful things would be a great help…and encourage someone along the way!
Thanks for sharing! (I came across you on Pinterest).
Blessings, Joan
Our small group is doing this as a service project tomorrow night, w a few changes, additions. Thanks for the idea!
What a great idea, Allison! What are you including?
this is such a great concept. ever heard of 3bagsin2days? they have been making bags for the underserved and homeless for over 3 years! check out their website here: http://3bagsin2days.org/
Hello Polly,
I think this is a great idea. I myself recognize that my reactions have been more from fear than compassion. I love your idea and will implement it. I had apprehension about one item, though. I understand why ibuprofen was included in the bag, but I worry about the misuse of the product. Is that possible with the size that’s suggested for the kit? Thanks!
I am inspired. I’m so grateful to have happened upon your post on pinterest. I love the t-shirt idea also that someone posted here. i’m off to the store tomorrow to gather supplies.
Thank you so much for sharing this!
What a great idea! I also find myself as you were on that first meeting. I think it is more fear than anything or the idea that it is a scam that I tend to avoid them. I am definitely going to prepare these bags. Thanks for opening my eyes and showing me that they are human also.
Glad you are going to make some! It’s hard not to be skeptical of people asking for money but I figure that 1) if they are willing to stand on a corner and do it, there must be some need there. 2) God still gives good things to us when we ask with mixed motivations so who am I to withhold a potential blessing and gift to someone when God graciously gives to me despite my wrong intentions. Just something to think about. It’s freed me up to give more without worrying about how they are going to use it.
Found your link on Pinterest…I am going to do this too! My parents’ church in central FL does these “to go” bags for members to share with homeless they meet. I think it’s fantastic! As a mom I always have snacks on hand in the car so we usually give those. Post here: http://graceglimmers.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/homeless-hearts/ I need to actually plan it out a bit though to have some things to give they need besides food. Thank you for this sweet and simple idea of giving. God loves a cheerful giver! I loved your sweet coffee story…one of my best giving memories was when my mom have my husband and I $50 for valentine’s day in our college dating years. We went to a pizza place for our own dinner than bought pizzas to share on the street with homeless near our campus. It was awesome!
This is a great idea. We did it last year as a VBS project for the kids and they took them home (well put them in their car). We had almost the exact same items (socks and water for sure) and instead of a bag we tied it all up in a large t-shirt. We have heard some good stories of families giving theirs out. We have a friend who always carries gas cards with him because that’s what he gets asked for the most is “gas money”. I really appreciate you sharing this, particularly the part about not ignoring them and how they feel when people pretend they are not there. Such a great reminder how to act human. I am so guilty of this at times.
{Melinda} I made homeless “to go” bags with my kids a number of years ago. And it made such an impact on them when we had opportunities to give them out. Sadly, I hate to admit I haven’t done it for a loooong time. It wasn’t a concious decision not to … life just got busy. Thanks for this reminder to not turn a blind eye. My kids are teens now, but I think they would still want to do this … it always makes kids feel good to help others.
I think it could be a great project to do with teenagers! Especially the ones who are new drivers and might find themselves face to face with a homeless person on the corner. Hope you end up doing it!
I was led to this site and thought I’d share. I have been making care bags for the homeless in my community in Chicago for almost 2 years now. I make 5-7 bags a week with around 30 items. Please check out the site when you get a chance. What started as something small blossomed into video interviews and actually helping getting someone off the streets. Thanks for doing this type of work and sharing a little more knowledge about how to help the homeless.
That’s awesome guys! I love it and am going to do it! Maybe you could put in a small Gideon’s Bible, or just some verses of encouragement or about Jesus’ love? That might help explain to them why you’re doing it and I bet they’d be more likely to read it after seeing the love from you.
Great idea, Liz. Or maybe an encouraging note from the kids with their favorite Bible verse.
thank you so much for sharing your story. I have always had a deep desire to help anyone homeless…but I have always felt helpless. I have seen these homeless bags on pinterest but never got around to making any. Well, this weekend I will do this…thank you for the inspiration and the spark I needed to do what my heart has always desired to do.!!
Oh, Polly, I love this idea. Graham has a HUGE heart for the homeless. I am gong to take him to the store and make these bags together. Thank you for this wonderful “practical” way to show love to the homeless.
Please keep in mind that many of the homeless have tooth and related problems and hard food like nuts, or which require a good set of teeth to bit into should be avoided.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, if fresh are good, with smooth PB – and coat both sides of the bread with the PB so the jelly doesn’t saturate the bread and make it soggy.