December 30th: I went to my wifes job to pick up my paycheck from direct deposit. After doing the math as to what would go where I passed by a Winn Dixie which was about 2 minutes away. I bought what I needed and came home. The T-shirts were taken care of already so the only thing I needed to cover was the food.
December 31st: I woke up early and started putting together the charity packages. My wife jumped in to help out (I am blessed by God to have a wife who is supportive of what I do even if she thinks it's a bit odd sometimes) and even my kids, ages 6 and 3 put in a helping hand (hmmm...could this be the start of their costumed activist training?) All in all it took us about 45 minutes to put everything together. A word of advise to any parents reading this - if you have small children never let them sit at a computer and fiddle around it for too long. Apparently my son or daughter screwed up some of my computer settings so I had to take some time to try and correct this. I didn't get all of them taken care of but I've got more friends in IT than I have fingers on my hands so I'm not worried.
My drive to the homeless shelter took about 15 minutes. I was dressed in a toned down version of my uniform - I just felt it was more appropriate this way (and no, this does not mean I am against patrolling or doing charity work in uniform/costume). My personal choice is to do presentations and panels for kids in full garb but that's just me. When I arrived at the place where I thought it would be I was surprised to see that it was no longer there - apparently they had moved. I took out my cell phone and punched in the name of the shelter to get an address, which it did...except it gave me the old address. A few minutes later I saw a homeless person walking around and I stopped honked my horn at him. Slightly rolling down the windows I asked him if he knew where they had moved the homeless shelter to and he gave me the direction. He offered to take me there if I wanted but I respectfully declined - intentions of charity are no excuse for being naive or placing myself in unnecessary danger. Extreme need sometimes makes people do terrible things. However, I reached into my backseat and gave him one of my charity packs and thanks him for his assistance.
Arriving at the homeless shelter was a sight that I had seen before but anyone who tells you they can get used to seeing human suffering without flinching needs a reality check. I drove slowly so that I could get a good look at the place - I had never been here before since they had moved the location. There were alot of people sitting on the side walk against a fence, small bundles of essentially everything they owned at their sides or on their backs. Some of them roamed the sidewalks listlessly and one of them was sprawled asleep on the sidewalk with only a bundle of old newspapers as a pillow. I surveyed my surroundings and then walked up to one of the homeless and asked him where I had to go to do the drop offs or the handouts. He directed me to metal grate door which was surrounded by homeless. I knocked on the door and they asked me what I wanted to which I responded "I have some supplies to drop off." The guy opened the door and asked me if I needed a cart or something to help carry it in and I told him I did. I walked with one of the employees at the shelter, himself apparently also a homeless person who was assisting the shelter, to my car and began explaining what I had for them. Another man came out with some paper work for me to fill out (since charitable donations are tax deductible) and we got to talking about the homeless shelter situation, how it had moved, why it moved, and about volunteer work. It seems the shelter moved because it needed more space, a sad reality in these hard times when so many people are struggling on a daily basis. I also asked him it I could hand out the stuff I had left over that were not individually bundled in charity packages and he told me that while I could do that that it was not the wisest thing to do. He was very clear that if I did that they could not gaurantee my safety and that I would probably get mobbed upon. Hearing him say this merely reinforced the harsh reality that these poor people had to deal with and putting myself in a position where I could potentially get hurt by the power of desperation would not do me or the people I was trying to help any good. I signed the paperwork, shook their hands and thanked them for helping me out andf they thanked me for the donations. I also gave them consent to go on their news letter so that I could get updates on the status of the shelter and anything they needed or were planning.
Overall the experience was enlightening, albeit with a sense of sadness about it. I had hoped to hand out the charity packages first hand but now I understand how foolhardy that would have been. Walking around by myself with two bags of stuff in a bad part of downtown might have gone terribly awry. Seeing so many people with so little makes me feel very silly when I lament on my own misfortunes - the old saying holds true, as bad as things may be going for us at times for alot of people out there who have it alot worse. Seeing so many people with such desperate need also makes me understand that what I am doing is important and that my detractors or those that ridicule me are pathetic at best. With so many problems in the world they choose to waste valuable time and creative energy by targetting and harrassing a miniscule percentage of the population like RLSH and costumed activists because we choose to think outside the box when it comes to helping people. These misguided actions add nothing to the world but rather take from it - every person they discourage to quit helping people or turn away from starting to is a wound upon the hopes of a better future. One would think that sooner or later they would figure out that they're wasting their time but I don't think they ever will and I don't think they fully understand thge harm they inflict with their actions.
Looking towards the future I hope to do more things like this again and probably even volunteer within the shelter itself. I am encouraged by the support I have gotten from my friends and family about this and unfazed by the ridicule of the hopelessly unenlightened.
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