2009 Fulton Park Thanksgiving Outreach - Recap from Viq

Here is Viq's recap of the day:

So, it's a little over 30 hours later, and I am still trying to process everything that transpired yesterday. I'll just give some of the highlights.

I am NOT a morning person. So, when I crawled into bed at 1:30 the night before, knowing my alarm was set to go off in less than 5 hours, I was dreading it a bit. I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm went off, with an energy I don't know that I have ever felt.

I left the house at 8AM to get the first load of food. On the way back, I figured we would have 4, maybe 5 volunteers. I pulled up in front of my house, and there was every firefighter from Station No. 3, as well as about 20 people i had never seen. Nobody saw it, but I cried before I got out of the car. There was this overwhelming feeling of, "Wow. We actually did it. It's really happening."

I heard some amazing stories yesterday - and not just from the people that we were serving. I met a couple who drove 50 miles to, quite literally, give the coats off their backs. I met a man who had lost two sisters to cancer in the past year. I met a lady who had been unemployed for two years, and had just gotten her first disability check. I met a 16 year old astronomy fanatic who was one of the smartest kids I have ever met. I met a 12 year old girl who is a walking bundle of joy. I met a single mom who wanted to help so desperately, she used her food stamps to buy us supplies - and then stayed for 3 hours. I met a lady who used to be a drug dealer and an atheist - and now is involved in prison ministry. I met a couple that wanted to serve others so badly that they literally drove around Evansville and stumbled upon us. I met a single mom who found out about the outreach less than 12 hours before - and was the first one there to help set up.

Those were just the volunteers. And then, there was Richard.

Richard, along with his brother Richard (seriously) were some of the last two through the line. Before he even got to the mashed potatoes, Richard started crying. He was crying so hard, my wife and her mom sat down and talked to him. He asked why were doing this, and Amy told him, "Because Jesus loves you." He said, "Really?"

Richard is homeless, and lives under a bridge. Richard threw away his beer can as he walked up. Richard was drunk, and had been for a long time. Richard smelled of day old beer and B.O. As he cried, tears and snot ran down his filthy, matted beard. If I had seen Richard on a street corner before yesterday, I would have locked my car door quickly.

But, standing in the freezing cold, we managed to give him something he probably hadn't had in quite a while. We gave him hope. We gave him dignity. We gave him unconditional love, because Amy was right - Jesus does love him.

I was on my way to work tonight, and I saw Richard crossing the street. I turned around and drove by again, just to make sure it was him - and I smiled. I'm not sure if we changed his circumstances much - but for one day, we gave him one thing he probably hadn't had in quite a while.

His humanity.

I don't know if we changed his life. But I know that he changed ours. That image of him crying because he was so thankful that somebody cared enough to do all of this - that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Because no matter how much we did, he is still sleeping under a bridge.

That means our work isn't done. It's only just started.