Around the country, people who have nothing are volunteering their time to help others.
“People want to be useful,” says Scott Budnick, and the proof is in the pudding: every Sunday at the United Methodist Church in Providence, RI, about 40 volunteers serve a free meal to anyone who wants it. The volunteers are the homeless who want to be active and give back to a community that has given so much to them.
“A lot of times, the person from the street knows our process better than the outside volunteer,” Budnick says. “It puts them in the leadership role.”
His program, Sunday Morning Friendship Breakfast, is not just about getting or giving a free meal to the 200 visitors each week. It’s about empowering people. All of the volunteers, homeless or not, work side by side.
Former Marine Ed Denst in Los Angeles knows that you don’t need to have a lot to give something back. He has been homeless for 23 years, but still collects change to donate to the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul Council, which provides food, shelter, and clothing to people in need.
“[It] makes me feel very good,” said Denst, who recently donated $250.
Dennis Mahurin had the opportunity to leave the tent he was living in when he won a $50,000 lottery in Illinois, but instead he chose to remain where he was and give $100 to each homeless person in his community, a sum that may seem paltry to some but can be a huge help to people without health insurance or a kitchen to cook hot meals in.
Photo: Lizzyb003/Flickr