Gift of Giving...

Gift of Giving
Story by: Kenneth-Michael

Outside St. Vincent de Paul Church on N. Front Street in downtown Baltimore, a large crowd of more than 300 individuals are waiting in line. The temperature is 28 degrees, which is average for the middle of January, but the wind chill makes it feel below zero.

The crowd waiting isn’t your typical group of people; many are bundled in large coats and wrapped in blankets that drag on the cold ground. The reason for the attire is to stay warm while outside waiting, but to also keep warm while sleeping and living on the streets because many are homeless. Filing into the basement of the church, they take a seat in what resembles a high school cafeteria. There, they wait for a hot meal to be served and for a chance to be indoors to enjoy the meal.

Before the food is served, Ed Stoop leads the 300+ crowd in blessing the food. Ed and his wife, Francis, have been serving the needy and homeless of Baltimore for 16 years. They decided to take on the mission of their daughter Kate Snyder, who started passing out blankets, sandwiches, and coffee to the homeless. “I was waitressing at a restaurant and heard on the radio that tonight would be the coldest night of the year,” said Snyder. After hearing this news, she decided to get people from her job to bring in blankets so that she could take them down to the homeless.

When she arrived downtown to pass out the blankets, she was greeted by a group of homeless people staying in the parking garage of the court house. After passing out blankets, she started to come down weekly, bringing sandwiches and coffee with her two younger children in tow.

To read more of this article, click the link below:
http://www.etmmagazine.info/future/2009/03/2009_03_homelessshelters.html