Holidays for the Homeless: How it Went

Hello beautiful people! As many of you who have been following my blog probably already know, my brother Zach and I have been working for the past few weeks on putting together holiday gifts for homeless adults in our area (if you would like to read the original post you can do so here, or view our halfway point update here) and today, Saturday December 17th, was the day our work came to fruition!

Us about to give our first gifts!

We got up this morning and loaded up our vehicles (yes, the trip took two cars! That's how many awesome donations we received as well as the things we were able to add on our own!) and drove downtown to the Lake Eola area where we were able to walk around the lake several times, returning to the cars to restock on supplies and give out our gifts to those in need. All in all we handed out about 30-35 snack and hygiene bags and gift cards to Subway so that they had the opportunity to go enjoy a hot meal, and tons of clothes and blankets, stuffed animals, books and other items.
The day couldn't have been better. The weather was gorgeous, the lake and all of the birds and turtles that live there are beautiful, and we were blessed to meet many kind, humble and personable people who were extremely grateful to have been thought of this holiday season. I was blown away by how kind and grateful people were, wanting to pray with us or for our family, shaking our hands...one man even made my mother and I flowers out of palm frond leaves, which I will cherish because it shows the epitome of returning goodness that has been done unto you, back into the universe. Many were already reading their new books, eating their snacks or using their toothbrushes before we even got a chance to walk away. I don't think a genuine smile left my face for the entire day.

I posted a quick video of the experience right below, if you choose to watch it. Just know that everyone in the video wanted to participate and say something to the camera and gave us their permission to record them and use the recording, and that we didn't force anyone or make anyone feel uncomfortable with the video. We more made the video in hopes that it will help to inspire others to want to organize similar projects and want to give back to their communities. We also really hope to do this again in the future, only bigger and better, and hope that this video will help inspire people to help us help others again so our project can continue to grow and we can help more and more people.

A lot of people asked us what group or church we were from and a few were surprised that we were out doing it completely on our own, but I think my brother and I both feel that it is so important to give back in ways that you are able to. At one point or another people have done kindnesses unto us that we have returned only with a smile and a grateful heart, and now it is our turn to put that same sentiment back into the world, and I hope that you all can find ways to do that with your own style. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! And spread good vibes.