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Kids Care For Homeless
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If you give a few dollars to someone on the street asking for money, are you helping them, or simply funding a destructive habit that got them there in the first place? Drivers are faced with that dilemma quite often, but as Kim Riemland (REEM land) reports, there’s a way to respond – thanks to kids still too young to drive. |
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SCRIPT:
(Locator: Austin, Texas)
When we see the handwritten cries for help along our daily route, it’s
hard to know what to do…but these “tweeners” have a solution.
Boy: “I have chicken salad…”
They’re no longer children, but not yet teens.
Girl: “There’s drinks and peanuts…”
Once a month, the tweeners at First United Methodist Church of Austin
pack bags of basic necessities, so members of their congregation have
something to give the next time they see someone in need.
Scott Stevens/Member, First United Methodist Church of Austin: “They put
them in their cars and they see a homeless guy with a sign, instead of
giving them money, they can just hand the bag out.”
They’re called manna bags – packed with enough nutritious food to last
one day.
Amanda Cripe/9-year-old: “Whenever the people of Israel didn’t have any
food, God sent manna to give them food and it would be on the ground
every day.”
They know the bags will be good for the recipient. The adults know this
project is good for the tweeners.
Paula Stiernberg/First United Methodist Church of Austin: “They are very
focused on self for the most part and there’s that anxiety that comes
with ‘How does my hair look?’ and the more that we can do to get them
involved in service and thinking of others’ needs, the deeper they feel
connected to ‘What is church all about? What is this serving others?’”
It’s a ministry of simple things they can understand – juice, clean
socks, an encouraging note.
Girl: “Jesus loves you.”
They believe it’s better than spare change.
Emily Jordan/10-year-old: “The food, you know they would use it for good
reasons, like to get healthier and stronger and to quench their thirst
and their hunger.”
TAG:
The tweeners sell the bags one Sunday each month for five dollars each.
The money raised helps pay for supplies to make more manna bags so the
ministry can continue.
For more information, contact
First UMC in Austin at 512-478-5684.