Finding yourself homeless is a real problem. So is needless food wastage. I was excited to come across news of how one fast food outlet is combatting both problems at once.

KFC is helping the homeless

Food that is not of the ‘gold standard’ required by KFC would normally be thrown away. It’s perfectly good food, just not at the exact temperature required (I know, it’s crazy). At one outlet (only one for now, hopefully the idea will spread), this food is saved and donated to the local homeless shelter.

This is the kind of thinking that changes lives. We’re not all managers of fast food outlets, but one way or another we all get the chance to do something positive. As Mother Theresa said “If you can’t feed the whole world, feed one person”.

Just help one person …

If everyone adopted this attitude, there would be no hunger. Every one of us could do something to help – it might be by volunteering at a homeless shelter or a food bank, it might be by donating a bag of shopping to a food bank, it might be by simply giving a homeless person something to eat, or the money to buy it. Or maybe just stopping to chat and spend a few minutes with them, and to treat them as normal people, not just the dregs of society.

It could be you or me on the streets

I know I don’t need to say this, but each and every one of us could find ourselves in the situation of being homeless. Our lives could change in an instant. Many homeless people were once gainfully employed, indeed many of them in very high ranking positions, and I’m sure most of them never forsaw that one day they would be homeless.

Spare a thought for those in need of help. Specially at this time of year. The cold weather adds more misery to the situation facing the homeless. The food homeless people get at a homeless shelter might be the single proper meal they get all week. And it’s way too easy to take it all for granted when we have regular meals, a hot shower or a hot bath whenever we feel like it, and the support of family and friends.

You won’t just be helping the homeless when you do something positive for them, you will benefit too. One of the best things you could ever do for your own wellbeing is to share your good fortune.

Make a difference in someone’s life – make a point of reaching out
to help someone less fortunate than yourself.