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Author Topic: Feeding Homeless 11 17 2014  (Read 1287 times)

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Offline Flyin6

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Feeding Homeless 11 17 2014
« on: November 17, 2014, 09:41:08 PM »
I don't even know what to say about tonight.

We showed up in some inhuman conditions. It was very, very cold and windy. So cold that the food that we tried to keep warm turned cold in minutes. It started off around 20F with a good wind blowing and just got colder and colder. It was snowing and will fall into the single digits before sunup.

I worked the crowd which wasn't very large, maybe 50 folks. I brought a box of sweat shirts, jackets, fleece, you name it. I searched for those who didn't have very much. Some people only had a shirt with a fleece or sweatshirt to keep them warm. I can guarantee the clothing was probably not going to even keep them alive throughout the evening. People will probably die out there tonight...

I just can't believe the suffering that is going on here, in this country, on our very streets. One by one I pulled those jackets our and pulled them over peoples heads. Some of them were like zombies, so cold that they were almost unresponsive. So. I'd wrap them with something and move on.

One man fell down and just started crying out loud. He just had no hope. I asked some of them what were they going to do tonight. The shelter was full and couldn't take any more. The ones stuck outside were desperate. Some planned to break into a building to try to stay warm. One man planned to get into two mummy bags and when the police came to harass him, he planned to fight...in the hopes that he would get arrested and hauled off to a warm jail with a shower and food.

Can you fathom that???

I mean it was really cold. At one point near the end, thank goodness, I saw this black man with no hat. So I pulled mine off and pulled it over his head. He didn't even acknowledge me, he just took it. But then the cold bit hard into my head, and I got to experience just how cold it was. I don't know if there is anything meaner on this earth than a cold wind.

I have no pics but, I'll pull some off Brother Jim's web site and post them here. I guess it was a good night, but I am left feeling helpless in view of the magnitude of the suffering I am seeing...
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Offline Dawg25385

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Re: Feeding Homeless 11 17 2014
« Reply #1 on: November 17, 2014, 09:46:46 PM »
Sounds awful. You're right about that cold wind, nothing worse. Just stings...

By chance, do you have an update on Ray? Been prayin...
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Feeding Homeless 11 17 2014
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2014, 08:17:19 AM »
Ray wasn't there

I asked around and couldn't find a ray sighting
I do know he was close to getting an apartment through VA assistance so maybe just maybe.

The other "Soldier" showed up last night. Earlier in the week, I had contacted a Sergeant Major friend of mine about him. The SGM told me "The Deal" about these people and how lots of folks use the veteran card to get help, playing on sympathies like mine. So based on the SGM's advice, I asked the man for his DD form 214, something we all have. It basically documents military service. Well, this homeless man did not have one...said it was stored elsewhere. OK, possibly. So I started asking him detailed questions about the Stan. When I mentioned the 101st, he said "screaming eagles."

So I called the SGM and put this homeless man on the phone with him. First off, the homeless man who said he had been a staff sergeant started calling the SGM, "Sir." Basic rule here. No one ever calls a SGM, Sir. I am a sir, I am an officer. Enlisted folks fear me less than they do a SGM. SGM's are always "Sergeant Major" Heck, even I call them Sergeant Major. Funny because my wife calls him by his name and I always call him Sergeant Major.

Side story, We W4's or now W5's are the Sergeant Major's so to speak of our world. We tell everyone except generals where to go, be it hell or somewhere else. So when the SGM and I get together it is like two bulls staring each other down...funny really. But at our core, we both love soldiers and will stand out in the bitter cold or take a call at night and get to work to help one in need.

Bottom line is I am not sure if this man is the real deal yet, but I intend to find out.

I'll find Ray eventually and see what I can do for him...
Site owner    Isaiah 6:8, Psalm 91 
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Feeding Homeless 11 17 2014
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2014, 08:19:41 AM »
Got some pics...The pastor took them
Poor quality, I think Pastor Jim has some 80's flip phone...
Site owner    Isaiah 6:8, Psalm 91 
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Feeding Homeless 11 17 2014
« Reply #4 on: November 18, 2014, 08:24:34 AM »
In the last set of photos, the heavy set man just broke down and started crying. He was given a bed in the shelter across the street, but his sister was not...she would have to spend the night on the street!

Some volunteers. The bundle of 18 coats, thermal underwear, flannel, fleece, hoodie and my coat in the middle is my wife. She is actually well proportioned, so all that bulk is clothing!
« Last Edit: November 18, 2014, 08:26:51 AM by Flyin6 »
Site owner    Isaiah 6:8, Psalm 91 
NSDQ      Author of the books: Distant Thunder and Thoren

Offline Flyin6

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Re: Feeding Homeless 11 17 2014
« Reply #5 on: November 18, 2014, 08:29:17 AM »
Hard to show just how cold it was for these folks, and for us
« Last Edit: November 18, 2014, 08:30:24 AM by Flyin6 »
Site owner    Isaiah 6:8, Psalm 91 
NSDQ      Author of the books: Distant Thunder and Thoren

 

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