The Angel Feather Project

After Outreach today, I headed downtown to see if I might run into anyone who could use one of the backpacks of supplies we had left over. I ended up giving out 5 backpacks and the 2 sleeping bags I had forgotten were tucked behind a seat. I was about to drive off when I saw a man poke his head out of the tent he was living in near the Gospel Mission. I grabbed a backpack and headed toward him. When I asked him if he could use some supplies, he sheepishly said yes. As I got closer to him, I could see he was older and in really rough shape. I introduced myself and learned his name was Stan. He was wearing a light jacket and what looked to be a t-shirt, so I asked if that was the only jacket he had. It was.

You know how things just turn out the way they’re supposed to? Well, I still had a brand new, amazingly warm, fleece-lined jacket in my car. I told the guy I would be right back and dashed to my car to grab the jacket. When I got back to him he was carefully going through the contents of the backpack. He stopped when he looked up and saw the jacket I was carrying. You should have seen the look in his eyes. It was as if he couldn’t believe it was for him. He hesitantly took the jacket when I held it out to him, then he gave me a huge hug. I watched from my car for a few moments as he put the jacket on and zipped it up. As I drove away, Stan graced me with wave and a big smile. It was lovely.

So much of what we do happens quickly with little time to reflect on the human connection we make with the folks we interact with in the Jungle, but those few moments with Stan reminded me that what we do is not insignificant. Stan will be warm tonight because I was able hand him a gift that was given to me by someone over 1,000 miles away to be given to someone who she will never meet. He reminded me that everything we do at outreach is, in some way, always about connection .

"The poorest of the poor"
That's who greets us with smiles every month and offers to unload the boxes of supplies in my car; who offers to share precious supplies with someone who arrived late; who takes food to someone too ill to get the food themselves. These are the folks it is my privilege to serve.
Sadly, since this time last year, we are now serving about 25-30 more people each time we do our monthly outreach and, as you might imagine, the numbers seem to keep growing. So I am standing here with my hand out again. If you have the ability and desire to help us to continue to try to do this very small thing to make life a little easier for our neighbors, I invite you to consider our Amazon Wish List. If you're not a big fan of Amazon, we can use anything similar purchased elsewhere. We can also always use Costco or Dollar Tree gift cards. Most of all, we are beyond grateful for any prayers or good thoughts you may send our way. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. We couldn't do any of this without you. ❤🙏❤

Check out my list on Amazon

We served over 100 chili dogs at Outreach today! Sadly, the number of people in need of food and supplies just keeps growing. Today we were able to provide clothes to someone who was naked except for an oversized sweatshirt. Thank you for making it possible for us to do that - as well as to provide all the other supplies she needed.