Brown Bag For a Dark Place

A few years ago a friend got it in her heart to put a bunch of non-perishable food in brown lunch bags and pass them out to homeless people. She wanted to distribute 50 bags, so I took some. I left them in my car and when I would come across someone asking for money on the street I would offer them a bag of food instead.

Every morning on my way to work I stop at 7-11 and get a drink. I pay with my debit card so I can get five dollars extra in ones so I can pay for my drinks in cash the rest of the week. Well, that was the plan, but I see so many more people panhandling on the street than I used to and I’ve been out of bags for awhile. Now, I find I give the dollars in my wallet and just swipe my card again next time.

I’ve been thinking about why I was doing it, I met a girl named Amanda on the road one day, she was asking for money on the corner of two busy roads. She told me she was trying to get a hotel; she was maybe 27, if that. I decided one day it wasn’t my place to judge why someone was down and out, it was my place to help them. There have been times in my life when I have been in need, what I needed was someone to love me and tell me they’d help me get out of my mess. I know small brown bags don’t get someone out of their mess, but as I packed them I felt like a person who could just possibly change the world. All we have to do is what we can, that’s it. I don’t have to figure out how to fix the homeless problem to help. I can offer a meal and a smile, reminding them they are seen. Besides it’s nice to know you matter to someone, even if it’s in passing. I remember Amanda, maybe she remembers me?

You don’t have to do everything, but you really should do something. My friend got me to put some bags in my car. It’s something to make life better, to give love in a dark place, and these little things are what link together – it’s how we change the world.