Eats For The Streets 2,666 Lunches Made, as of May 2009

WHAT IS EATS FOR THE STREETS?

Eats For The Streets is a grassroots movement to help the homeless.

• Establish community involvement in helping those less fortunate

• Never accept money

• Keep it simple!

• Have fun!

• Never affiliate with any one type of organization, name, or cause.

Founded in 2005 by Mark Whistler,

Eats For The Streets has now been successfully implemented in:

Baltimore

Boston

Denver

New York City

Making over TWO THOUSAND lunches for those in need! 

Please contact us for more information on how you can be a part of the Eats' movement!

 The Story of:

Eats

      For The      

    Streets...

Helping is grassroots, here’s how we just fed 80 people.

Okay, so this last week’s adventure probably wasn’t as exciting as jumping out of a plane (Recent column: Market Freefall), but in an odd way, it was equally, if not more, thrilling in its own accord...

What I set out to do in this adventure was help make a difference within the community of Baltimore (We are now are serving Boston, New York and Denver too!), while having a great time while I was at it. And it’s worked.

It happened in Baltimore…where there’s always room for help, especially with the homeless.

If you’re like me, sometimes it’s hard to swallow donating money, especially when sometimes only a fraction of the money given goes to the actual cause. I was tempted to dig up some stats in this area, but I don’t want to be too negative. (And I’m not saying don’t give, I’m just saying that for this project, I wanted every penny to count.)

Here’s what the adventure was all about. Start a grassroots movement that brings together community, while helping the less fortunate... and have a great time doing it.

The idea was this: Talk to a neighborhood restaurant and get them to donate space for an hour or two on a Saturday morning. Next, compile an Evite list, requesting the presence of as many people as possible to come spend an hour making sac lunches for the homeless, and finally, deliver the lunches to an organization that can get them into the hands of people who need food the most.

In the Evite, I listed the items needed in the lunches (bread, bags, lunch meat, chips, etc…) and requested that each person bring one, spending no more than $10. I wanted to make sure the cost was minimal and that the event was more about having fun, than plunking down big bucks.

I asked the Peabody Hotel in Baltimore to donate the space… At first, I was a little intimidated to do so, and to my amazement, Debi, the General Manager, was not only more than happy to assist, but mentioned that if we needed anything to help make the lunches, she would be more than happy find whatever we might need.

I reiterated that we weren’t looking for a handout; we simply needed a place to meet and assemble the lunches. (Many thanks to the Peabody Hotel for the wonderful generosity.)

The Evite list comprised about 100 people. I was surprised, as I thought 50 people or so would turn out, but unfortunately only about a dozen did. Regardless, in an hour, we were able to make 80 lunches... and I think we had a ton of fun doing it.

Shortly after completing the lunches, we dropped them off at Our Daily Bread (a Baltimore soup kitchen serving 500 to 900 people daily.)

I cannot tell you how rewarding this experience was... And how much I would like for you to be a part of it. 

If you would like to help in this mission to serve those who are less fortunate, please email me to discuss how we can implement an Eats For The Streets event in your city.

In your city, we simply need an initial group of people willing to help... I will help take care of the rest.

 Thank you soooo much!

 Mark Whistler