Comments on: Care Packages for the Homeless: Way to Help the Homeless

By: christina parker brown

christina parker brown — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:20:42 +0000

I am very interested in doing this. Any ideas how the kids can be personally involved in giving and meeting the homeless? Great post!

By: jeanette

jeanette — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:56:09 +0000

@whitney, I am certain the Marines can't donate MRE's. My husband used to work on base and saw hundreds of MRE's being thrown away that were close to being expired. As an individual I am certain you could start a drive to collect so much of what is wasted. That is all it takes, one person to start it up.

By: whitney

whitney — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:40:45 +0000

@jeanette,
Jeanette, I have a question for you…
Is it legal to give out MRE’s to the homeless (or anyone who wants them) if the box has been opened as well as the meal package? Meaning, once the MRE’s have been rummaged through can the individually wrapped snacks and meals be donated? The reason I am asking is, once the Marines are issued their MRE’s they open the box, each individual gets so many MRE packages, and he opens them and takes out what he wants to eat while in the field… leaving 7/8 of the items behind to be thrown out… and these individuals have no incentive to save anything they don’t use because they are required to take home whatever they are issued and saving everything just stacks up and cannot be eaten. The huge waste is an issue for me and I would like to know if you knew how the donation process works, or if this stuff HAS to be thrown out because it cannot be given back to the Marine Corps. I couldn’t find anything about this online :/ and your help would be very much appreciated.

By: Rachel R.

Rachel R. — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:09:45 +0000

What did you put your items in?

By: Around The Blog-o-Sphere!

Around The Blog-o-Sphere! — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:35:31 +0000

[...] this idea for helping the homeless. Jen at Beauty and Bedlam posted last week how her family made care packages for the homeless. I, too find myself not giving money to the homeless in fear they’ll use it for things [...]

By: Stef

Stef — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:23:23 +0000

Inspiring, thank you for this. I just got done reading “A Same Kind of Different as Me” and it gave me a whole new perspective this issue.

Stef
Frugalhomeideas.blogspot.com

By: Jens

Jens — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:47:50 +0000

@Jocelyn, Thank you so much for sharing that, Jocelyn….so often we say, “that’s a good idea” but then never follow through. You were obedient and look at how immediate your kids saw that….

By: Jocelyn

Jocelyn — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:34:53 +0000

Thanks Jen. I have been faithfully following your blog for a while and have so enjoyed your posts. I have incorporated several of your ideas, this one being the most recent. I discussed this with our 5 kids and they were eager to make some bags. We had just been to the dollar store to pick up some items and then stopped at the post office where a homeless man asked for help. It was such a great immediate lesson for the kids. We hadn’t even gotten home to put our bags together, but we quickly gathered some of the things we had just purchased and gave them away with a blessing. Keep up the good work on your blog!

By: Julie@comehaveapeace

Julie@comehaveapeace — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:02:33 +0000

I see from all that comments that this really struck a chord. How wonderful. Thanks for sharing. I linked to the post on my blog today when we thought about “Why care?” I think you gave so many practical ideas for how and why to care. See the post here: http://comehaveapeace.blogspot.com/2010/01/why-wednesday-care.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email and thank you for taking time to BE compassionate actively and to share it.

By: Randi

Randi — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:20:25 +0000

What a great idea. I love that you keep some in your car to hand out when needed.