Seeking Human Kindness

On Christmas Day, I spent the day with 7,000 people during The Salvation Army’s 30th Annual Family Feast in Milwaukee, WI. We provided a full course Christmas meal, entertainment, toys, and to-go boxes of food to anyone who came. Over 1,500 volunteers and Salvation Army staff greeted, served, and cleaned up after people from all walks of life. It was a true “family feast table” of strangers, friends, and family members alike.

This was my first event as the divisional development director for the Wisconsin and Upper Michigan division. I had this amazing team that worked on the logistics of this event, so I went into the day wondering where I would fit in. What was my purpose?

What I discovered was what God had planned for me all along. It was to give dignity to our homeless population. At the end of the day, it was hard for them to leave the safe confines of the Wisconsin Center in downtown Milwaukee as they had food, warmth, and fellowship. They also had no sense of time either, yet as an organization we had a contract to leave at a certain time.

It was at this time that God revealed my purpose through a single encounter.

I had noticed this gentleman was unrolling the plastic dirty tablecloths that our volunteers had gathered during cleanup. They were red and green thin plastic table coverings that were used for our guests to dine on. This [clearly] homeless man was laying them out on another table and brushing them off. I noticed from a distance that a man in a suit was getting rather loud with the homeless man, so I went over to see if I could help.

To the gentleman in the suit I asked, “Is there a problem” as his voice kept getting louder. He said abruptly, “YES! This man is flinging food on our carpeted floor!” I proceeded to ask if he was with the Wisconsin Center of which he replied very politely, “yes”. I told him I would be happy to vacuum up the food if he would let me handle this situation. The gentleman told me that it was time to get the homeless out of here as the event had ended a half hour ago. I responded I would take care of it (as I know we had two more hours to cleanup), so I proceeded to engage in conversation with the homeless man.

“Sir, what are you doing with these dirty tablecloths?” He responded, “I’m wiping the food off so I can use them for SHELTER.” It was at this point that I didn’t need to change his mind, but to assist him in his progress. We unrolled a few more and cleaned them off, and as I counted out ten I convinced him that he had enough. He agreed. I told him I would get a plastic bag to put them in, but he pulled out a two-wheeler, bungee cords, and tattered bags to show me he brought his own.

As I leaned down to help him put the large, rolled up wad of dirty tablecloths into his bag his body odor overwhelmed me to the point of vomiting. I have a terrible gag reflex for putrid smells and at that point this man was so close I didn’t dare pull away as it would be too obvious. As his blond, dirty dreadlocks brushed my hair all I could pray was, “Lord please DON’T let me get lice.”

When we finished with our loading process, my new friend stacked up three containers of melting ice cream that were dripping out of the bowls at this point of time. I told him I could get him a fresh box of ice cream if he would put those down, but he told me he couldn’t waste them. I didn’t know where they came from and he didn’t care.

I knew I would have to walk him to the exit at this point and promised a box of food at the end of our journey down the hallway. As we walked he kept asking me if I worked on Watertown Plank Rd (which I do) and if I knew Tim who worked there (which I don’t). When we got to the door it was announced by my staff that we were out of food boxes and the look on his face broke my heart. I quickly told him not to worry as my special events director, Denise, would go to the kitchen and fix him up a box. As she scurried away, his face lit up again.

It was at this point I realized that I was staring, at a very close range, into the rugged face of a man with piercing blue eyes wearing bent silver framed glasses, straight teeth though soiled from not brushing, and long blonde dreadlocks. His clothes were layered, dirty, soiled, torn, and well-worn. His hands were dirty and his body odor reflected his life on the streets.

I will never forget these features as long as I live because…

As we stood there waiting for the food, I asked him his name. Still standing very close to me, he proceeded to tell me that he had five legal names. I realized he wasn’t going to disclose that information easily, so I told him that my mother gave me one name, “Beverly.” It was at this point that his voice became very confident and his demeanor very erect when he announced to me that his name was “Jehovah, Jirah, God Almighty, the Spirit.”

Without flinching, I said “Sir, it was an HONOR to meet you.” He smiled and told me I was very KIND (he repeated that three times to me throughout our brief journey together). I told him my parents would be very proud as they taught me well. He shook my hand and under the watchful eye of security promised he would stay there and leave through the exit doors once his food arrived. 

I walked away knowing my purpose! It was to bring DIGNITY to our homeless that day (and each event thereafter).

I pray you find your PURPOSE and that it is invested in human kindness!

Blessings, Beverly