Humanitarian Day

For the past little while Aaron and I have talked about volunteering more and giving back. We also recently both read The Soloist by Steve Lopez - an excellent book that draws attention to the homeless problem in LA (a movie is coming out soon, too). So when I got an email through work looking for volunteers to help with Humanitarian Day distributing items to the needy on skid row, it struck me as something we should consider. Aaron was game, so we went for it. It turns out that the day was organized by the Islamic Society of Irvine which meant two things: 1) we were definitely in the minority, and 2) they weren't serving the volunteers lunch since it is Ramadan and Muslims are fasting.

Aaron and I volunteered to help with surveys. After the homeless went through the 'fair' and collected their items we asked them questions about if they liked the event, which of the items we offered they needed the most (most said the blanket, second place was the hygiene kit), how long they've been homeless, etc, etc. We got a little insight into the lives of these people who certainly do not have it very easy. Some were just released from prison, others were addicts, many just said they simply couldn't get or hold down a job.

Asking these folks all these questions really just opened up others in my mind. Had they simply drawn a bad hand in life or were they wreck less and careless? Did they not have a good family to take care of them? Would that make a difference? Is there any hope for them to get their lives on track?

At least we helped meet some of their basic needs. And every single person I talked to was sooooooo appreciative. So, we did make a very small difference and I feel pretty good about that.