Today was an awesome day for me, although I must admit that I was quite dazed when my alarm clock rang at 5:00am, especially since that is the time I am usually just going to bed. The reason for my early rise was to participate in the Poker Gives Back project with fellow members of the Wednesday Poker Discussion Group (WPDG) as well as some wonderful friends.
Here is the background for the project: Every Christmas, one of my good friends, Teri, is involved with a group that hands out food and clothing to the homeless. As Teri was telling me about how many people they had been able to help, I started thinking that this is something I wanted to do. My best friend Jan Fisher and I decided to get involved and we recruited members of the WPDG to donate clothing that they no longer needed. Being a shopper, I hit the resale stores like Savers, Goodwill, and Salvation Army and had a great time buying blankets, sweaters, hats, stuffed animals, toys, coats, shirts, and other items that homeless people might need. I also went to the dollar store and bought hygiene items, socks, and candy. My friend Steve Evans bought $100 worth of protein bars and many of our friends cleaned their closets and came up with carloads full of giveaway items.
Next, we debated whether or not we should go to the Police Department to get a permit to proceed with the project or simply just do it and hope we weren’t breaking the law. After all, everything was free to the homeless. We opted to take our chances and decided it would be easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission. About 10 of us got together over dinner one week before the giveaway and pre-sorted clothing, breaking them down by sizes and by gender. At 6:00am on a weekday, approximately 20 volunteers, mostly WPDG members, showed up in the parking lot of a local business near the Mission, set up card tables, and loaded them with hundreds of donated items.
Before we even finished setting up, people started coming by on their way to have breakfast at the Mission. The first guy to stop asked what we were doing and we explained that everything was up for grabs and he could take anything he wanted at no charge. He asked, “Do you have any socks?” I was so glad that as an afterthought I had scooped up all of the heavy duty socks I had seen at the dollar store the day before. Although we invited him to take a few pairs, he said that others would need them more than he did. Ultimately, he just took one pair and continued on his way.
That seemed to be the theme: no one was greedy. They all just took what they needed and there was no fighting or hoarding of anything. They took one or two protein bars instead of filling their pockets. A few of them took things for their family members and friends, but I was truly amazed by how happy they were to share what was there. The people who stopped by were very polite and most of them thanked us for being there.
We learned a lot from this experience and will do better next time. There will be a next time! We learned that socks are a priority so people can stay warm. We learned that hygiene items are important. Since I travel so much, I always bring home the extra soap and small bottles of shampoo, lotion, and mouthwash; they were very popular on that cold morning. We learned that towels are important because if you have your own towel, you can take a shower at the Mission anytime you want. If you don’t have your own towel, you can only bathe during certain hours when towels are available. We learned that we need mostly small, medium, and large-size clothes. We learned that treats like candy put a smile on people’s faces. Protein bars are important because people can take them and have something to eat later.
We learned that you can tell the newly homeless from the “veteran” homeless by the look of fear and panic in their sad eyes. We learned that even things like used shoes have great value to someone. We learned that just by asking your friends and neighbors, thousands of items can be collected and used for a good cause. Finally, we learned that 20 poker players can make a big difference. I don’t know who benefited more from this project, those of us who got to donate our time and goods or those who received them.
At about 8:00am, people stopped coming by and we vacated the parking lot before the business opened. We packed up the rest of the merchandise and took it across the street to Shade Tree, a very worthwhile charity. The project was a big success. All I know is that I had a smile on my face that entire day and I can’t wait to do it again.
