Feed 100 People In Need – Step by Step

The Holiday season is almost over and with all of the money spent, and all of the time wondering what your loved one is getting for you this Christmas, it becomes so easy to forget the real reason for this season. As Americans, lets face it – we can be pretty self-centered. We complain constantly, we are never satisfied, and now at the height of social media usage – we are so focused on ourselves, our looks and our perception that others may have of about us, its easy to forget there is an actual world out here outside of ourselves and our own problems.

Trust, I can rant about this subject all day – but I’ll save it 🙂

In a moment of self-reflection, I felt the need to do something for someone other than myself; and of course I went to all the people that I trusted most to see if they could help lead the charge in making it happen. When I presented those chosen few with the idea of feeding 100 people, everyone thought it was a great idea! Feeding 100 people sounds like a big task and I knew that I would need the most reliable people I knew to help me pull this off – especially since I DON’T COOK!

So, I decided to create this quick blog just in case you are interested in feeding those in need. Here in Charleston, SC, we have a rampant homeless problem that I don’t remember seeing ten years ago. In a city that Conde Nast deemed the #1 City in the United States, amidst the palmetto trees and warm sun, sits an underworld of sadness which consists of poverty, homelessness, mental illness and drug abuse. Many of these people are veterans, youth, or simply people that have no family here in Charleston. So, what better way to celebrate Christmas than providing a warm meal to a person in need.

Here are some steps you can take to do the same thing in your city.

1. Call Up Your Crew

Find people that can help you pull this off. I decided to call my family and a few of my friends that I have known for over 10 years. Why? Because this is a large task and you can’t pull this off by yourself. You will need help and you will need people who are dependable and can be trusted!

2. Decide on a Meal, Create a Check list

Decide what you want to serve on Christmas Day. We didn’t want to take up too much time from everyone on Christmas Day, so we decided to serve a Turkey lunch which consisted of turkey, dressing, macaroni, broccoli rice, green beans, and dessert – enough for at least 100 people. Along with the food, we needed plates, cutlery, aluminum foil, take out containers, aluminum pans, etc.

3. Ask for Volunteers and Donations

Almost everyone I asked for help decided to give a monetary donation, prepare a dish, volunteer, or a combination of these! With their help, we had 15 people donate their time, money, or food. They rock!

4. Decide on a target of exactly who you want to help.

Of course, if you live in Charleston , SC and you think of people on need – the first place that comes to mind is Tent City. However, there are many places here in Charleston where people who are in need or who may not have family or friends, can use a nice meal. We decided to go to the Star Gospel Mission in downtown Charleston, SC. where there is a small population of residents. Then we decided to take the remaining food, box it up in to-go containers, and deliver them to Tent City, Chicora Cherokee, and the Bus Shed in North Charleston, SC.

5. Confirm, Confirm, Confirm

Confirm with the facility that you decide to serve that they are still expecting you on the scheduled day. Confirm with your volunteers that they are still available on the scheduled day. Confirm and collect any donations; to make it easy, simply go and collect the donations yourself. Don’t wait for anyone to bring items to you if possible.

6. Make Sure you Have Trusted Cooks and Chefs

Let’s keep in real. You wouldn’t want to eat from a person you don’t trust, so make certain the people who are preparing the food are people you trust. Each person that volunteered to prepare food were people I knew would prepare a nice, CLEAN meal.

7. Shop

The list was already made, my donations were already collected, its time to go shopping to gather any items that weren’t donated.

8. Prepare the Food with Love

We wanted the food hot, so we started cooking the turkeys at 5:00 am on Christmas morning. Most of the food we prepared was cooked the day of, a few items the night before and we reheated in the morning. Do not prepare food any sooner than the night before. Even those of us that DON’T cook had to chip in YIKES!

9. Serve and Deliver

We are serving lunch so we showed up to the Star Gospel Mission at 11:15 to serve the residents. While we were there, we used the to-go containers to leave them some leftovers for later on in the afternoon. Then we used the remaining to-go containers to pack lunches to deliver throughout the Charleston Area

9. Don’t Forget to Thank your Peeps