Random Spontaneous Donation

I will say this first. I don't donate in the usual way and it's spontaneous outreach for the less fortunate such as the homeless, for hungry people I have seen and hate to just pass by.

I'm aware of the resources around town and do what I can when I can. It might be guiding them to a place, usually a church who helps with a meal, money, and the necessities of life we sometimes take for granted.

Anyway, I have bought them lunch or gave them the one I had just bought. I've paid for bus tickets, and lastly bought shirts for them.

This one time I was out of town and decided to buy several shirts, but had very little money. I went to the Goodwill or was it Salvation Army? I don't remember.

Anyway, I picked out several shirts, but I didn't know what they'd cost. I asked an employee and he montioned to the sign on the wall. From what I could tell, I wouldn't have enough money to buy all of the ones in my hand. Plus, I had no idea what size pants the homeless man wore so that was out of the question.

"How big is he?" he atore clerk asked.

"I don't know him that well and I can't afford a lot. He's tall, not skinny, not overweight." I suddenly laughed. "I just realized that I basically described at least half of the male population."

He laughed too.

I added, "Oh and he's homeless."

"How did you meet him?"

"I noticed him sitting at the train station , staring at the ground. He was holding a sign, which I realised later said--Homeless and Hungry. I wondered just how long it had been since he had eaten. I had passed by him, but stopped walking, turned around to find out what his sign said. His clothes were ragged and worn. He wasn't drunk or anything like that, nor did he approach me."

After the employee at the thrift store heard my story, I looked over at him. His face seemed to change. I wondered if I said something wrong. Maybe he didn't like homeless people, or maybe he thought they were all drunkards and drug addicts, or maybe he thought I was wasting time or money. He was quiet and I was still looking at shirts, deciding which ones to put back.

I believe that we shouldn't judge other people, because we didn't walk in this homeless man's shoes to know what's happened to him. Which came first, if it was true? What I mean by that is that even if he was either of those things, was it because he's down and out after being unemployed, or is it the cause of his homelessness? We just don't know.

Maybe this employee at the store thought I was foolish for doing this. I felt I was doing the only thing I could do. It felt right. When I looked at him again his eyes had seemed to soften, and he said, "We'll figure something out. Follow me and bring all of those shirts in your hand."

We went to the front of the store and the cash register. He sold me those shirts for less than two shirts.

I was astonished. "Wow. Really? Are you sure that it's okay? I don't want you to get into trouble for it."

He spoke softly and said, "I'm.glad you told me who they were for, and happy to know there's people like you in the world. I was once a homeless person."

I didn't expect him to say that. I was honored by his words, yet looked downward, so he'd not see the heat in my face. My eyes got a bit blurry, I found my voice again and managed to say, "That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me lately.Thank you."


I never ran into the homeless guy again, but much later I donated the shirts to a church that helps the homeless or those in need.

I also visit a blessing box at a church where you can leave things or take things. I will go again soon and bring socks or whatever else I can think of for the homeless. You never know what makes a difference in their lives.