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Feeding The Homeless, One At A Time

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 9, 2008

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" (Matthew 25:40)

With a growing homeless population in and around Tampa, initiatives have been launched to help meet basic needs and address long-term solutions.

Some of us like to study issues. Some talk about what can or can't be done. Some even schedule workshops in case someone wants to help sometime in the future. There are those who simply refuse to sit on their hands.

My friend Jim is a driver for Meals on Wheels. One day he returned from his route with a couple of leftover meals. On impulse, he shared the food with a homeless couple.

His next time out, he packed extra and found he had no problem giving it away. Before long, Jim was making sandwiches, going out two days a week and learning more about his new acquaintances than he ever imagined he could.

Others at my church, First Presbyterian in Brandon, found out and insisted on helping. Jim's gesture quickly became a kind of cottage industry. Some people fix food, some ride along and some stay behind and pray. Organizational protocols have been established, care is being exercised and scores of hungry people are being fed.

Then, just a few weeks ago, my friend Gerard got involved. Now he goes out in the early evenings, on days previously not covered. Like Jim, he never goes alone, and another hive of activity has materialized in support of his outreach into the community.

My friends are learning where to find hungry people after authorities break up their camps and move them on. "Sometimes a line of 30 people will appear before I even shut off my car," Gerard said.

My friends gladly share stories of radically changed lives, but the changed lives they talk about are often the lives of the people who go with them and who serve a segment of society the rest of us so easily toss aside.

This isn't one of those problems that will go away if only we close our eyes and wish hard enough. In this economy, the blight of homelessness is only going to increase.

So what are we going to do about it? We can study the problem all we want. We can talk. We can even get on our knees. Meanwhile, people such as Jim and Gerard are taking seriously the opportunity we all have to be the hands and feet of Christ.

Outside of that, I'm not sure we even have a prayer.

Columnist Derek Maul can be reached at derekmaul@ gmail.com.

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