It was a wonderful day at the outreach! We made 36 sandwich bags and handed them out within an hour of arriving! One lady refused a bag when we were passing it around, saw some others folks eating and came up and asked us if she could get one. As she unwrapped the plastic, she commented on how soft the bread was. As she was eating the sandwich, she said it was the best sandwich she had ever eaten, and was telling everyone about it! She felt the love we put in all the sandwiches we make each week!
We connected with some folks last week who were in need of specific clothing items and sizes and while organizing the bins, pulled them out as we found them and put them in paper bags with their names on them. They were not sure if we would come today since it was right after the Thanksgiving holiday, but they were there and had HUGE smiles on their face when they saw us – and their bags!
Image by Freepik
One lady who has come the last few weeks and who has asked for prayer, saw me pull up and walk over to the bus stop. She ran towards me and gave me a BIG hug! She was having a hard time last week, so I gave her a hug and she remembered what I said – “we all need 12 hugs a day.” The National Institutes of Health states that 4 hugs a day is an antidote for depression, 8 hugs a day achieves mental stability and 12 hugs a day achieve real psychological growth.” Some of the neurochemicals, including the hormone Oxytocin, which plays an important role in social bonding, slows down the heart rate and reduces stress and anxiety levels (Military.com). I love giving out hugs and definitely give out more than 12 a day! When she ran and gave me a big hug, it really brightened my day!
We brought 2 car loads of clothes and people were so happy to have warm clothes as it has been getting cold. The shoes and purse boxes were a big hit as well! We even brought out our kids winter clothes box and were able to bless a 6 yr old girl with a warm jacket and some long sleeve shirts and a 2 month old baby with a knit jacket and onesie. We prayed over the Mom and baby as they have just become homeless and are staying in one of the local shelters. She has our number and we hope to be advocating for them this week for a more permanent and safe home. We also have 3 more folks we are looking for clothes for. One of them only has the clothes on his back and we did not have his sizes with us. One is looking for 3x pants, tops and size 12/13 shoes. The other is looking for size 36×32 pants. We are also looking for 2x sweat pants and found out another local nonprofit (Single Women with Children) just found out about a family of 3 who lost everything they had on Friday. They are in need of Medium shirts, size 32 pants and 10.5 shoe size for the Dad, small shirts, medium pants and size 11 shoe for the mother and 4t shirts & pants and 10x shoes for the child. If you have clothing in good condition that meets the above needs, please reach out to us at 919-238-9665 or at mpaul@ahandupnc.com and we can arrange a time to pick up the clothes to bless these individuals and families! We are starting to get low on clothing and are in a real need for men’s winter clothes. If you have cleaned our your closets or are cleaning them out, please keep us in mind for your donated clothes!
After the outreach, I took a jacket to the wife of one of the guys we see each week. He has not been feeling well, so was not able to make it out the last few weeks. It was good to see that he was doing OK – and that we were able to get a heavy jacket to his wife who was in need of one. There are 3 guys we are working with who are in a hotel for now and we found out one of the guys only has one set of clothes and the hotel does not offer blankets – only sheets. They were my last stop and I was able to find 2 really nice blankets, 2 pairs of pants and 3 shirts for the guys!
It was a wonderful day full of laughter, conversations, prayers – and hugs! I can’t wait to see everyone next week!