Feeding Our Friends

Jumbled Dreams, Nashville Homeless, Hunger, Volunteering, Giving Back

On Monday, February 18th I arranged for my Echos for Hope friends to volunteer with People Loving Nashville.  The organization has been preparing and delivering meals on Monday nights for 10 years to those who are experiencing homelessness and are in need of a meal.  We helped that night by packing over 200 meals and then we traveled to the War Memorial Plaza in downtown Nashville, TN and handed out the food.

Jumbled Dreams, Nashville Homeless, Hunger, Volunteering, Giving BackIt was a new experience for us all.  I knew Colleen and her family but had never been to their kitchen.  It was located in the basement of a church in Nashville and had just been redone.  It was very nice!  Christopher, he’s over the clothing donations, asked us if we could help sort the clothes for tonight while we were waiting for the food to be prepared.  We got out all of the plastic bins and started organizing and sorting by size.  When we finished that up, we carried the bins upstairs to be loaded into the vans.

We all attended a first-time volunteer session to learn more about People Loving Nashville and what we could expect later that evening.  It was very informative and gave us all a lot to think about.

When we were done, we lined up to create the food boxes.  On the menu for the night was chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, and salad.  There was even dipping sauces and water and tea to go with it!  We had fun creating the assembly line and putting the food in each box.  As we finished, other volunteers People Loving Nashville, Jumbled Dreamsloaded it onto the vans so it would be ready to go.  Once we were done and cleaned everything up, we all prayed together and for those, we were about to serve.

We then headed downtown and I couldn’t wait to visit with many of my special friends.  A lot of the homeless I recognized and I enjoyed talking with them and catching up on what was going on in their lives.  But as I was walking around I saw a man eating by himself in the corner.  He only had one arm and was struggling.  I went over to him.

He looked so tired and I could just see he needed a warm place to sleep. “Hi, my name is Sydnee,” I said with a big smile but nothing could change the fact that he was homeless.

He told me his name was Mike and I also learned that he has been on and off the streets for 6 and ½ years.  His family had disowned him and he lost his job. I just can’t imagine losing everything and everyone.

Mike told me that he was so hungry that he couldn’t eat; that what he ate, he made himself eat. He was staying at a local shelter but he was taking marijuana for the pain from his missing arm so he was asked to leave the shelter.  He understood why, but said the pain had just gotten too bad.  BUT almost immediately HE GOT CLEAN again, so he’s hoping to be back in a shelter soon.

We took a picture together and we talked some more and I asked him if I ever saw him again was there anything special I could bring him.  Most people were asking for stuff that they wanted, but all he said is, “Will you keep me in your prayers?” That’s it! No toiletries, no blankets, no clothes, just a prayer. I prayed with him right there and I told him that I would continue to keep him in my prayers.

I am guilty of taking things for granted and not being my best self sometimes. I think we all are.  Mike was an inspiration to me, and if I never see him again it will be a blessing because I hope that means he is back in a shelter.  God brings people into your life for a reason and He defiantly blessed me when he introduced me to Mike.

Help others, please?

-Sydnee

 

keyboard_arrow_up