Bundles go International!

Times Square, New York

After the dream of expanding and reaching as many people as possible, my mom and I travelled to Manhattan, New York and handed out bundles throughout our journey!

We brought along our wagon, envisioning we would walk the city’s core and hand the bundles out along the street. We also had the preconceived notion that there would be an influx of homeless people in the city due to the immensely high population in such a small area - but we were wrong.

We spent a day touring the city, walking over 20km and saw only one homeless person. That is when we began to question it. We soon later found out that homeless people in Manhattan are often arrested and put in jail for panhandling or driven out of the city to live in the outskirts (Brooklyn, Queens, etc) which is awful.

We then decided to go to a homeless shelter in Brooklyn to drop 20 bundles off for the staff to hand them out at their discretion. When we walked in, there were giant mental detectors and luggage scanners to ensure the safety of the visitors. The staff were also very selective as to what was allowed in the bundles, and certain items had to be removed.

Overall, the experience was very eye-opening and was a learning curve but I was very happy to expand out and help a new group of people!