#8

May 20 Freedom Parkway and Boulevard
I've often seen homeless people on this corner- it was the corner that inspired this project.

A rather 'hip'ly groomed man, about 40, was walking along the trodden grass as cars stopped at the light holding out an old Dunkin Donuts cup. Cars were backed up- it was noon, and I saw him in advance. I rolled down my window so when he got to me he'd stopped. I picked my phone off the passenger seat and placed the lunch there.

"Hi- I have a lunch if you haven't eaten yet," I offered. He hesitated, and looked around in my car, hoping, I assume, I'd have some cash instead. I gave him an out, saying something about maybe he'd already had lunch. "Yeah, thanks anyway, I'm not hungry, I already ate," he said. "Well Good luck," I replied and he walked off. I was sortof stunned for a second, and was about to roll up the window when he came back and said, 'Hey, I changed my mind. I could have it for dinner."

# 7

May 18 1-75 On ramp at Freedom Parkway

I was pulling up to the same on ramp where I'd given a lunch previously and saw a depressed looking young black man dejectedly holding a sign (not at an angle I could read). I rolled down my window as I'd only have a few seconds at the stop light (it's one of those 'one car per green' alternating lights that help ease traffic onto the highway). When I pulled up to him I offered the lunch and he perked up a bit and said "anything would help, especially food." I smiled, handed him the bag, and drove off.

I looked in my rear view mirror before I had to merge and observed him open the bag and then drop it rather umceremoniously on the ground. I'm not sure how to feel about that.

#6

I-75 on ramp off of Freedom Parkway May 4

Technically, lunch #6 was in my husband's truck in case he encountered someone on his commute, which is not very likely. Over the last two months it has gotten slowly pilfered by kids after soccer practice, kids who forgot lunches or snacks on the way to school, etc.

I had given away all 5 of the ones I had put in my car, and had neglected to restock with the other 6 we made at the outset. Last Tuesday I picked up a sub for lunch and ate half, saving the other half for my daughter who was home sick from school. On the way home from work I encountered the same man at Boulevard and Freedom that I'd given lunch #4 to last week. I felt badly that I'd forgotten to restock and fell into my old pattern of not acknowledging him as he walked by with his sign. I was feeling really crummy as I pulled away from the intersection. Well, at the next light there was a young hispanic guy with a sign and I was thinking SHOOT when when I remembered the sub on the seat next to me. I hesitated for a second thinking, I told M I was bringing her a sub! but since it was a short light, I rolled down the window and said, "I have a turkey sub if you are hungry." The young man's face lit up and he trotted right up and accepted it and off I drove.

#5

20 West off ramp and Lee street, May 2

On the way to church we pulled up to this intersection where there are often panhandlers (I'm starting to think that is probably not the politically correct term, but I can't think of another that is descriptive). I used to try to stay in the outside lane so as to avoid them. It was a beatiful spring morning and there was an elderly black man at the corner who was very happy to receive lunch #5.

#4

Freedom Parkway and Boulevard, April 30

I was driving carpool home from the preschool and saw a gentleman walking along the roadway. He was well groomed and healthy looking so I wasn't sure at first if he was homeless, but as I drew to a stop at the light he pulled a sign out of his jacket so I rolled down my passenger window. He noticed and came up- I offered him the lunch and he accepted with a "Thank you very much!" I believe the sign said he had cancer.

#3

I-75 and 14th street Onramp

We were heading out of town on a warm April day. We were leaving later than I had hoped, and the traffic was almost at a standstill. A perky middle aged black man was walking along the line of cars stopped at the traffic light near Ga Tech and I rolled down my window. When he got closer to us (we were in the middle lane) I called out- "I have a lunch!" He answered with out missing a beat, "Not anymore you don't!" with a big grin. He popped over to our car and asked if there happened to be a drink in there. I offered there was a Gatorade, but I was sorry to say it wasn't very cold. He smiled and said, "Don't drive too fast now!" (a reference to the non-moving traffic).

I was happy to finally unload lunch # 3. It's been a long dry month with several near misses. The most interesting thing has been the shift from hoping there WASN'T anyone asking on corners to hoping there WAS. From avoiding the edge lanes to purposely getting in them in anticipation of being in a good position to open my window. A very interesting paradigm shift.

#2

Sunday, February 28, 2010

The corner of Lee Street and Ralph David Abernathy, West End Mall, 10:45 am.

I had anticipated there would be someone on the exit off I-20, but there wasn't and I admit I was a tad disappointed. We were on our way to church and so everyone was in the car and I thought it would be a good opportunity for everyone to share in the experience.

As we drove along Lee Street, I noticed a tall middle-aged black man in a blanket and dreadlocks walking up to the bus stop. We were stopping at the light as we pulled along side him. He looked at me and I smiled at him through the window but he looked away. He walked up the bus stop bench and sat down. There was a plate of food there which appeared to be from the local sandwich shop and was probably left there by someone getting on the bus. It looked like mostly cole-slaw and the man picked it up and started eating. When the light changed we were able to pull up and I rolled down the window. He instantly put down the plate and stood up, approached and accepted the lunch with thanks.

The older kids didn't say much, but the four year old pipes up, "Mommy and Daddy, when I grow up, I want to be a homeless person so Mommy will give me a lunch."

#1

Friday, February 26, 2010

Corner of Freedom Parkway and Cleburne Avenue in front of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, 12:10 pm.

A midle-aged hispanic man is walking past the car where I pull up to the light. He sits down on the curb two cars behind us. He has a sign, but I don't read it. I take a deep breath, roll down the window, and call out, "Sir?" He hops up with smile revealing that he is missing a front tooth. I hold out the bag and say "I have a lunch if you haven eaten already." I anticipate a change in his demeanor, that he'll be disappointed I'm not offering cash. But he only brightens. "Thank you so much ma'am" and takes the bag.

The light changes and we drive up Freedom parkway. My 4 year old daughter offers to the five-year old boy in our carpool, "We made lunches for the homeless people.' "What's in the lunch?" is his obvious first question. I tell him. "What did the sign say?" I said that I didn't read all of it but the last part was "Please Help." He replies, "One of the words was ON or NO."

Countdown

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Today was the day I decided to do something about it. I've spent several months pondering what to do about what I considered an ethical dilemma- how to respond to requests for help or money from people on streetcorners on my daily commute. This is compounded by the fact that my sweet children ask a lot of questions. What does the sign say, Mommy? Why can't he build a house like you and Daddy did for us? Why doesn't he/she have money? Why are they outside with no coat?

So- here you have it. We made, assembly-line style, 12 bagged lunches. I tried not to agonize too much about what to put in them- I basically let the kids pick out a variety of things that would be easy to eat. We picked up some public transportation passes and also included a list of local resources.

And now we'll give them away. Stay tuned.