Hope Vibes Delivers Items to Homeless Neighbors Amidst Rising COVID 19 Fears
Despite worsening fears over the spread of the Corona Virus, also known as COVID 19, around 50 volunteers came out Saturday, March 14th, to support the needs of one of the community’s most at-risk populations. Hysteria or not, there are neighbors in the Charlotte area that are experiencing homelessness, who’ve been without basic needs such as hygiene products, clothing, and food; long before the pandemic. Various organizations such as The Well Church, Mecklenburg Community Church, Factory Church, Allstate Helping Hands Committee, Goalz & Gainz Consulting, as well as long time Hope Vibes volunteers and first-time volunteers from all over the community, came together to offer support. Friends invited friends and other volunteers discovered the event via social media.
Equipped with plenty of gloves and hand sanitizer, Hope Vibes was all hands-on deck in to safely serve the community. Some of the neighbors were surprised to hear about the severity of the virus and were happy to get up to speed, as volunteers chatted with them about current events and handed out needed goods.
One local volunteer, Lasondra Brown, shared her experiences. “I will never forget the moment when I offered a woman I was speaking with, a scarf to go with her sweater. She responded by obliging but expressed that she didn’t want to take anything she didn’t need. ‘Please, take this one that I have and give it to someone else who may need it.’ She said this while trying to trade her current scarf for the one I was offering her. I insisted that she keep both, but It made me feel fortunate to be able to interact with someone kind enough to still give back in their time of need.”
Carese Gayle, an Allstate Employee from Helping Hands, expressed her thoughts on the Serve Saturday event as well. “In this season of uncertainty, it’s easy to forget about the human factor in all of this. While we all run to the stores in preparation for this quarantine, some don’t have that option. I will keep each person I touched in my prayers and will volunteer again with Hope Vibes.”
Even in the most trying of times, it’s great to know that there’s still hope. As the COVID 19 situation develops, Hope Vibes is staying flexible by building mobile hand washing stations; combatting adversity with ingenuity. To learn more, please visit www.hobevibes.org.
