Brown Bags And Jesus

Brown Bags and Jesus began during a trip to a homeless mission to find the co-founder's brother who had recently been released from jail and living on the streets.  Seeing the desperation on the faces of the homeless, we were led to purchase as many burgers as we could at the time and pass them out to the hungry. Men were grabbing 2 and 3 burgers at a time, but what touched our heart is the fact that they were not taking the extra burgers for themselves, they were passing them out to their friends. At that point we decided to start trying to put together a lunch to pass out once a month , but God has had different plans, he has seen to it that we have had the funds and supplies to make this trip every week since we began.

  Along with food, we also want to provide, Christian encouragement, emotional help, christian support, ... Christian help for: spiritual encouragement, Church fellowship support. While passing out the lunches, volunteers fellowship with the people as they eat their lunches, listening to their stories and talking to them about the Lord.

   While the meal program has been well received among our hungry clients, we also wonder if there is more we can do to increase food security in the area. We want to begin recruiting volunteers from among the homeless to engage in trash pickup in New Orleans. Each participant will be given two large garbage bags to fill with trash collected in target areas, and in return, will receive $10 in food gift cards and a brown bag lunch and healthy snacks.

During the time that we have assisted God with Brown Bags and Jesus, we have learned a lot about the homeless population. We have learned that there is more help for those that are addicted to drugs than for those that are not, we have learned that not all the people we minister too are drug addicts or have mental issues, and we have learned that a lot of these people that we minister to are looking for a hand up not a hand out.

Currently our menu is as follows:

• Ham and cheese sandwich
• Serving of chips
• 3 cookies
• Granola bar
• Fruit
• A candy
• Encouraging Scripture from the Bible
• 1 or 2-20 oz water depending on supply and demand

For the winter we want to supply:

• New or gently used blankets
• New or gently used coats
• New socks
• Small stuffed animals for kids
• Bibles

What we need:

• Any of the items listed above
• Volunteers
• Cash Donations

We also want to distribute gently used everyday clothing (infant to adult sizes), shoes, blankets, sleeping bags, backpacks, etc. We are also in need of clothing appropriate for jobs and job interviews - suits, dress shirts, ties, dress slacks, dresses, etc.   Contact us  for drop off or pick up. 

 Brown Bags and Jesus is trying to serve the same meal at the same location at the same time for a long time. Consistency breeds trust, trust breeds confidence, and that's what Brown Bags and Jesus is all about! Please consider getting involved in this unique and personal response to hunger in New Orleans or any other city. You too can make a difference!