A season to give

Our young men and women completed a very special service project last night. As a group we collected warm clothing; coats, hats scarves and gloves and traveled down to the area of town where many men and women live on the streets. We made arrangements to meet at the Salvation Army with a representative of their shelter. Before leaving Richard Fonbuena, an LVPD officer spoke to the kids about sticking together and told the boys that they had to stick by the girls. The kids chuckled a bit, but Rich then went on to tell them that they were in fact going to be serving this night in a very dangerous area. When we arrived at Owens and Main we were honestly surprised to see scores of homeless men and women and many young children as well. We set up our items and before a half hour had passed, we were practically out of items. We brought along a stack of pass along cards to give to the eager hands of those people in need. It was a very emotional experience for me and I do believe for many of the youth it was an enlightening evening. For many, myself included, the reality of the difference between wants and needs was clearly illustrated.
As I looked on, a larger man approached our tables searching for a coat. He quietly picked through the things but found nothing that would fit his large stature. Without so much as a second thought, and without saying a word to anyone, I watched as Doug took off his coat, his one winter coat that he asked for last Christmas, and handed it to the homeless man. With gratitude, the man took the coat and shook Doug's hand.
Wow. I love him.