How Feed the People Began, Our Mission, and How You Can Get Involved
Bella and I, Mother's Day Weekend 2020, in front of Family Gateway
The First Few
“Girls, I saw the most ironic thing today. In front of the Dallas Public Library stood a sign that read 'Endless Possibilities,' and the same sign was surrounded with homeless.”
In the beginning weeks of the stay-at-home order in Dallas, my dad came home from a bike ride (social distance-approved, of course!) He began to tell my sister and I of all the homeless he had seen in front of the Dallas Public Library in downtown. He explained that he had seen some there before, but the population had grown exponentially, seemingly overnight. What really seemed to have struck him was not the amount, rather it was the place in which they were.
"They are all sitting in front of a sign that reads 'Endless Possibilities," he said, "which has to be such a frustrating thing to look at day in and day out if you are in their situation."
So, we decided to run with it.
How could we make it seem a little less frustrating? How could we make their day a little better? What could two girls, with endless possibilities themselves, do to make them feel the same?
The answer, which seemed quite obvious to us, was to provide meals! We believe that it is impossible to succeed when starving, and we decided to make PB&Js, as they are a cost-effective, filling, and semi-non-perishable item that would provide them a nice place to start. This little act of charity, to us, seemed like the perfect way for us to do our part in the COVID-19 relief process.
Continuing On
What began as a small, family-led project grew almost overnight. A single facebook post led to an overwhelming outpour of support from our community. The first week began with 50 sandwiches, which was then followed by 100, then 200, and eventually we were able to reach and remain at 200-400 sandwiches weekly.
We were lucky enough to come into contact with a blogger local to Dallas, Madi Nelson, who is known to her fans as @heymadinelson, and her husband, David Nelson. With their generosity, we were able to put together a great food drive, in which we received an abundance of supplies. In addition to the food drive, they donated a portion of the sales of the masks off of their website, Shop Talulah, which was an incredible blessing.
Our local bakeries were no different in the love they showed for us. Bird Bakery, JD's Chippery, and Leila Bakery show a continuing level of love that is beyond what we could have wished for.
Finally, we had the privilege of being the choice charity for a yoga session with Dallas Yoga Collective, which came with some more great support that allowed us to keep going.
Our Mission
“If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” Mother Teresa
In my opinion, this quote from Mother Teresa embodies the mission of Feed the People perfectly. Our efforts began as just a few sandwiches, and, although it has grown exponentially, we also make sure that we stay within our bounds. To us, quality always beats quantity.
Each week, we strive to provide anywhere from 200-450 quality lunch sacks, with each meal containing a PB&J, granola bar, bag of chips, sweet treat, fruit-centered snack, and a water. We believe that this meal contains everything we would want in a PB&J lunch, plus a little extra.
Get Involved
Want to help out your community? You have come to the right place! There are many ways in which you can get involved!
Full lunches:
Drop off a full sack to our front door on Wednesdays, Saturdays, or Sundays, and we promise they will be distributed to someone in need in our community!
PB&Js:
Drop off anywhere from one to one thousand peanut butter and jellies on our front porch, any day of the week, and we will include them in a bag for a Sunday or Wednesday drop!
Individual components:
Drop off (or order off of our Amazon registry) one of the following items, any day of the week, to help us fill lunch bags!
jelly
granola bars
chips
fruit snacks
apple sauce
beef jerky
cookies
any other snack item you find yummy and filling!
amazon registry link: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2X39EIIXRUBUL?ref_=wl_share
Monetary Donations:
Paypal link to come.
Venmo: ftpdallas
looking for a way to get involved with charity work over the summer? contact us!