Brotherly Love: The Blessing Bags Project Making Special Deliveries To Help Homeless
By Ukee Washington
SPRING CITY, Pa. (CBS) -- For the third year, two Chester County women are making some special deliveries on the streets of Philadelphia. It all happens later this month, and you can help. We caught up with them in Spring City, Chester County.
One by one, Melissa Kirkpatrick and Julie Buckner are packing things we take for granted.
"When I heard about random acts of kindness week a few years ago, that inspired me to do a bunch of random acts, and this is one of them," Julie said.
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Julie started the Blessing Bags projects. She and friends started collecting essential items for the homeless, everything from hand warmers to snacks to socks.
They packed all of them in Ziploc bags, but they also wanted the homeless to be able to carry them more easily. So they put out the word, they needed big bags! People came through.
"We have purses for the ladies when we hand them out, and also sacks and different bags for the gentlemen as well," said Melissa.
Then they hit the streets of Philadelphia, handing out the Blessing Bags personally, taking snapshots along the way.
"Oh, it feels so good!" Julie said.
"My favorite part is definitely seeing the day of and seeing the reactions of the people we are helping, because it seems out of nowhere," Melissa said. "It seems an act of generosity they weren't expecting."
Businesses in the Royersford area agreed to put out bins so their customers can donate to the project. This year, Julie hopes to collect enough supplies for 75 full bags before Saturday, March 4. That's 75 people who can get a little bit of blessing.
Julie has two Blessing Bags drop-off locations. They are West Main Consignment, 15 West Main Street in Lansdale, PA. The other is All in Athletics at 33rd South 3rd Avenue in Royersford, PA. You can also email Julie.Blessingbags@gmail.com.