Lessons Learned

Well, it was kinda what I expected it to be.

It was bitter cold, windy and snowy. Not the ideal night for charity work out on the street. We only handed out one blanket and hat! No one was out. At least they were taking advantage of the shelter! I guess this is one of the things that when you have a bad turn out, that's a great thing!

I learned three valuable lessons for next time:
1. Do it earlier like 5 or 5:30. Get them to the guys before they head into the shelters for dinner
2. Don't do it on a bitter cold night. Wait for a milder day.
3. Do it earlier next year, like early November just when it starts to get cold.

Still it was cool to get out there and actively seek out the homeless. Usually people avoid them so it was neat to do the opposite. We asked two other guys if they would like a blanket but the politely declined saying they had already had a few! That's cool to see that they are prepared for the weather and people have already provided for them.

It was me, Buck, Camann and another member of our lifegroup, John who helped out. We were all in good spirits throughout and enjoyed eachother's company. It took about an hour to walk around the area and we were bitter cold and numb so we went into Steep & Brew (to support the family) to get some much needed coffee to warm up. I forgot my wallet and cell phone at home, of all the nights, so Buck graciously bought me my coffee...thanks! We had a great discussion and we figured out the world's energy problems, talked about patenting new technology and flux capacitors. Also wood on Mars and translucent solar cells. Very in depth conversation; the best kind there is!

Some night within the next month or so I'd like to do a random, spontaneous attempt at this again. I'll pick a mild evening and then email people to come and meet me at a particular location at a certain time and try this again.

The Helpfulness for Homelessness site will continue to be up from now until December 31. Please think about making a donation if you are able!

Stay tuned...