Before this year of volunteering, I had no problem hoping in my car and driving to Dunkin Donuts to get my favorite French Vanilla and Carmel Swirl Iced Coffee with skim milk and sugar any time of day especially if I was stressed or tired from my crazy life at Merrimack. This year, things are a lot different. Most of the time we make a big pot of coffee in the morning before work for everyone to share and Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks are only for special occasions such as weekends or if someone sends us a gift card. We have learned to not spend money on coffee everyday and to live more simply with our coffee choices. Thankfully my mom has been gracious enough to send Dunkin Donuts gift cards for holidays or random occasions like last weekend when she gave me a $10 gift card when she came to visit. So last week when I was out of the office all day on home visits, I was getting really tired and decided that I needed an iced coffee to get me through the rest of the day. As I was driving back to the office after my last home visit, I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts on 87th Street and parked my car. As I got out of the car and walked up to the door, I noticed an elderly homeless man who was mumbling to himself as he stood outside the Dunkin Donuts. As I approached him, he opened the door for me and mumbled something about needing food for the day. I said thank you for holding the door open as I walked right into the store not registering what he said. As I stood at the counter ordering my iced coffee, which by the way I have been told is "too complicated of an order" according to the manager at the DD on Western across from our street, I thought to myself, "why not!" and ordered a plain bagel toasted. Thinking back on it now, it would have been even better if I told the guy to come inside with me and order whatever he wanted but at the time I just wanted to get him something so I went with the plain bagel. As I walked towards the door, the homeless man opened the door again for me and I handed him the bag with the bagel in it.
"Thank you, thank you so much!" he said. "You're welcome, have a great day," I replied
As I got in my car and looked back at the man before I pulled away, I saw him smiling, eating his bagel and continuing to open the door and talk to himself. I smiled and prayed that God will continue to bless him and give him strength everyday. To think that I needed the iced coffee to get me through my day but this man needed to eat! The bagel might have been the only food he had all day. So thank you mom for the Dunkin Donuts gift card, it was put to great use!
As I drove back to my office on Martin Luther King Drive and listening to Inspiration 1390, I was inspired by the music was playing and the man that I just helped. To me it wasn't about helping the man or giving him food it was about realizing that everyone needs some help and every little bit counts. What do you do when you see a homeless person on the street corner? Do you ignore them like many of us do or do you give them spare change? Do you stop and talk to them or do you continue your coversation with the person next to you? Do you give them some food or do you eat your lunch right in front of them as you wait to cross the street? Many people believe that you shouldn't give money to the homeless because they are just going to use it on drugs. Sadly, this is probably true but what about the people who use the money to buy food? Do you drop change into each cup you see or do you ignore all of them like they are not there? Homelessness and hunger is a huge issue in our world today and many people choose to ignore it while others choose to do something about it. Whether it is spare change in a cup or a bagel to the man outside of Dunkin Donuts, I encourage you all to help a homeless person one day. It doesn't have to be every homeless person because unfortunatly there are too many but each one is different and I'm sure you will make their day even if you just give them a "hi" and nothing else.
Always remember how much of an impact you and God have on this world each day. Know that you can make a difference no matter how big or small. Now I ask you, what are you going to do to be part of a change? What are you going to do to make a difference?
Chicago Hunger Fact: "Today, the Food Depository distributes 66 million pounds of food, including more than 12.8 million pounds of produce, to 650 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters in Cook County. Nearly 142,000 men, women and children turn to the Food Depository’s network each week, and nearly 678,000 people turn to the network annually." http://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/site/PageServer?pagename=abt_whoweare_history
