Operation: Cozy Toes for the Homeless Bros, COMMENCE!
It's winter. The weather is cold, harsh and nasty. Even as you read this, wrapped up in a blanket and cozy indoors with your tea or cocoa, there's somebody just like you sleeping on the brutally cold, hard, uncompromising concrete or asphalt outside. No tea, no cocoa, no warm fire or cat on their lap. Just wet, shivering, frostbitten misery.
That thought has always haunted me. Because that's a real person, exactly as real as I am. They are as miserable in those conditions as I would be. I don't want them to suffer for the same reasons I don't want to.
The real, long term solution to homelessness is the housing first movement which always needs donations. But what can individuals do for those stuck on the streets, to supply some measure of immediate relief and soothe their own aching hearts?
I've written in the past about stashing away small care packages in your pocket, car or backpack so when a homeless person asks for help, you have something to give besides cash (which may be spent on drugs). But my earnings have gone up, so I can afford to give more. That means it's time to step up my game.
Care package 2.0 contains lots of goodies in a waterproof tupperware container. This is for the same reason I bundled the gloves I gave away in ziplock bags, so they have a way to keep what you gave them dry. It rains a lot in this state after all.
As you can see, each package contains one bottle of Soylent which is shelf stable (no refrigeration needed) for one year. It contains the usual mylar bivvy sack, but I left it in the package so it will be self-explanatory what it's for and why it's useful despite being so thin.
Each package contains a Zippo catalytic hand warmer that warms for 12 hours per fill. I've pre-filled them all. The homeless around here always seem to have lighters, so I imagine they can get their hands on lighter fluid. Critically, these hand warmers are flameless, so they don't pose a fire risk.
They can even be tucked into the bivvy sacks. Many backpackers stick a hand warmer of this type into the toe of their sleeping bag to stay warm. The only caveat is that it's not safe to close it over your head, because of the fumes. I'll include a note warning not to do this.
There's also a pair of nice clean, dry socks. The largest size as I figured better too large than too small. I mostly included these because there was some empty space under the Soylent bottle I wanted to fill with more goodies, and socks fit the whole Cozy Toes motif.
I have ten packages, but only 7 bottles of Soylent for the time being. So only 7 of them are fully complete and ready to give out at the time of writing. 4 of them are in the trunk of my car, three are in my backpack. Never be empty handed! Always have something to offer.
I wanna close this by talking about motivation for giving. It feels iffy to write about a project like this because it smells like virtue signaling. "Oh look how good I am, look everybody and praise me!" But on the other hand, by making an article about it I can raise money to pay for it.
I can also popularize this practice, inspiring others to do the same. Finally, while the ideal is to give charitably in secret to preserve the purity of the altruistic act, the fact of the matter is that more people will give if they're allowed to talk about it.
In the end, does it really matter why people help? I don't think so. It only matters that they do it. It only becomes obscene when you have people comparing their charitable actions to other's in order to puff themselves up. In my opinion, that's where the line is.
Giving out of a love for humanity and receiving commendation for it isn't crass. It will motivate more giving and multiply the good feelings which result for everybody involved. So I urge you to make sure you always have something on hand to give to those who ask, however small, and post about it here. I'll be the first to upvote you.
Stay Cozy!
Honestly we need to stick together and spread humanity because it seems to be lost these days . It’s good to see some people still keep faith in helping others . It’s a cold world out there and people would die to be in our spot right now
You sir are one hellofa good guy. I know it is not just because it is christmas, because I have read other post of yours about helping the homeless and they have all been very serious good ideas. From small animal rescue on your bike to helping out those that need a little boost. With winter, yes hand and toe warmers are a must. I do not have a lot of followers yet, but I am resteeming this and I hope a few more will drop by and upvote your kind deed and your message about caring.
Thanks for sharing such a great post. You are so good person who thinks for the needy. Very beautiful idea to help them, yes friend in my country too every day we have to pass out lot of people like that, feel very sorry to see their conditions.as an individual could not do lot for them, as I have lots of responsibility for my two kids but I promise to you if I will get success in steemit world, I will definitely help them as much as I can. But now too I would like to help them with little bit. Thank you so much for your kind works, I prey to god for your success and happiness. Good luck friend.
STEEM mobile is even more well equipped now to help yourself and those around you. You're doing a lot of good work my dude.
You sir are a dead set legend. If only the world was full of more people like you. Everyone needs a hand at some point in life and every little bit helps!
That's so kind of you :) Thank you for helping others.
Wow that's way more thoughtfully thorough than I've seen from anyone else. Good work man.
You are a really kind hearted person. You are not always funny but also a warm hearted person. Thank you so much for helping those in need. Everyone should learn from you. Great job.
@alexbeyman,
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/500x/73095754/we-salute-you.jpg)
Merry X'mas dude! You gave a great example for the entire community! This is for you!
Cheers~
That is great work. We try to help out here in there. Usually with food bank donations throughout the year and some extra donations for Christmas. This year we did the shoe boxes for 3rd world children and a goat through world vision.
Still we have so much and we should do more. Thanks for the reminder.
Those zippo hand warmers work well if you are including them? I received one for Christmas last year and haven't tried it yet.
They last a whopping 12 hours. I considered an electric one but it had a 2 hour run time. I normally hate to use fuel for anything but this was an application where endurance mattered more than emissions.
Thanks for the quick reply. I'll have to give mine a try at work on the coldest days.