Thanks to Travis for this thread’s inspiration....
We see our fair share of homeless people down here in Jacksonville. Sometimes I’ll give them whatever loose change or single dollars I have, but I always wonder whether they’re truly going to get something to eat, or just get their next substance fix.
I saw this post a couple months ago and decided I would put forth just a little bit more energy and, in conjunction with my meager profits flipping grills, start giving warm meals instead of cash.
A quick trip to our local Restaurant Depot yielded the necessary to-go containers and a couple of huge pork shoulders. Because dry beans are much cheaper than canned, I made the baked beans from scratch using Catskillsmoker’s maple syrup and maple sugar among other ingredients. I used Rub’s Swamp Boys rub on the shoulders and Swamp Boy’s BBQ sauce in the finished pulled pork. I also made a basic cornbread in the oven. Once all the food was finished, I weighed out 8 ounces of meat, 6 ounces of beans, and two pieces of cornbread per individual serving. By this time, my wife figured out what I was doing, and took it upon herself to make “doggy bags” with dry dog food and a couple of dog treats to hand out as well. (Why do so many homeless people have dogs?)
So with a couple of coolers loaded with warm meals, we headed towards downtown on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, to hand out meals. I had never done anything like this before, and I won’t lie, I was a little nervous. The first person we gave a meal asked if I could open the box and unwrap the plastic utensils because her hands were too cold. Another man started crying because he could share his food his family (we gave him two more meals). We met veterans, prostitutes, and people with obvious mental health issues; all were thankful and non-threatening. My earlier nervousness and apprehensions disappeared and as our food supply quickly dwindled, I vowed I would do this again before Christmas. My only regret is not making more food, but that’s okay, turkeys went on sale right after Thanksgiving!
Thanks for looking.
Sent from my iPhone using
Weber Kettle Club