Where Can I Go to Bless Homeless This Christmas Eve?

Updated on December 20, 2011
D.B. asks from Flower Mound, TX
5 answers

My friend and I are planning on baking cookies and delivering hotdogs ( in a bun) with a packet of home baked cookies to homeless people this weekend on Christmas Eve. We will be cooking the hotdogs, put them in a bun and wrap them in foil. We'll keep them in coolers to keep them warm and package the cookies in small food bags.

I've never done this before so I would appreciate any advice from others who may have done similar ventures.

The questions I am hoping to have answered are....
Where could we get 150 packets of ketchup/mustard etc..? Would fast food restaurants donate them to us?
Where do we go? Does anyone know of places that these unfortunate might be on Christmas eve?
We live in Flower Mound so we can travel to surrounding towns within a 15- 20 mile radius or so.
My first thought I had was to go where a church may be serving meals but then again I'm thinking we should bless those who are not receiving a meal from a church or shelter on Christmas Eve.

I would love to find those with children to bless in this small way so if you know of places where mothers and children are that would be a good place for us to start, but we are open to any place that would welcome us.
Thanks in advance for your time!

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So What Happened?

Thank you so much for your suggestions!! I will definitely research a little into the rules about handing warm food out. I never thought about it being a problem. I will also see if I can piggyback on another group if I can find one working on Christmas eve. I've already purchased the hotdogs/rolls so maybe if I don't use them in this endeavor one of the shelters can use them?
Keep those ideas coming please, I am all ears!!

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.S.

answers from Dallas on

Its awesome that you want to give back to the community. That said, I would encourage you to instead support an existing charity who uses and organized and effective outreach to the homeless community. Going out by yourself isn't cost effective (homeless orgs can buy 5x's the food you can for the same amount of money), and a bit dangerous.

I'm most familiar with Dallas, so I'll give you the orgs I know of:
http://www.mdhadallas.org/the_bridge.aspx
http://www.thestewpot.org/

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Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.L.

answers from Chicago on

Call a local shelter for information, I bet they would know where to go.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

R.S.

answers from Dallas on

We usually serve at the Bigheart Ministries homeless banquet at Dallas City Hall on Christmas morning, but unfortunately this year our founder has been in the hospital for over 5 months and the ministry is out of money, so it doesn't look like our banquet will be happening for the first Christmas in 29 years. Be careful handing out food - the city of Dallas has decided in the last couple of years that you can not serve hot food (Bigheart used to serve a hot breakfast every Saturday) and requires groups to serve in a courtyard at The Bridge (homeless resource center) downtown. I don't know how they handle individuals handing out wrapped food - just keep an eye out and be as respectful of any rules (parking, etc) as possible so you don't give them a reason to stop you! When Bigheart started battling the city regarding serving hot meals outside of the Bridge courtyard we had to be careful not to get cited for jay walking across the street where we would serve breakfast, and leaving the City Hall yards cleaner than we found them!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.S.

answers from Dallas on

This is so wonderful. But to put a damper on your good deeds, be aware that depending on the city, you may not be allowed to hand out food like this. Rather, you are required to do it through an organization that has a permit, etc. Also, it could be EXTREMELY dangerous for you and your friend.

Check into some of your local homeless shelters and see if you could do soemthing similar there or if they send out convoys of peole to do just this but in a safer fashion...

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.A.

answers from Dallas on

You might consider Unity Park in Ft. Worth. It is a park for the homeless and lots of groups regularly go there to provide meals, clothes, companionship. We are actually going there on Christmas day to bring duffle bags filled with blankets, socks, etc. and some goodies. Good luck to you! And God Bless your endeavor to love and serve others!!

1 mom found this helpful
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