The Soup Odyssey Project: Update on updates

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Update on updates

Recently someone made the comment that my Soup Odyssey updates seemed a bit self-aggrandizing. While this was certainly not my intention - and I am not convinced that my posts impressed anyone else this way - the comment was made by someone very close to me and has provoked significant introspection.

As a result, the Soup Odyssey blog will no longer be a blow-by-blow log of activities but will instead try to tell the stories of those whom I have had the honour of knowing and helping on the streets.

Stay tuned for the first such story in the coming week....

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Introduction

What is the Soup Odyssey Project?

Our plan is to make a large stock pot of soup, then take it down into the most ravaged parts of the city to feed the hungry. We will set up a folding table on a sidewalk (most likely in front of an abandoned house), set up our propane tank and turkey-fryer burner with the stock pot on top, and serve bowls of soup until we run out.

Why is it called “Soup Odyssey”?

An odyssey is a long and often dangerous journey – and we think that this describes the life of the poor and downtrodden in American cities today. While relief agencies reach out all across the world, most Americans drive right past hungry people every day, never bothering to notice their needy brothers and sisters who live just up the embankment from the freeway.

We plan to change this – to not only make a substantive impact on the lives of the poor each and every day by providing a hot, healthy meal, but also by challenging the consciences of middle class Americans.

As we like to say, “Life is a journey on which no one should go with an empty stomach.”

Aren't most of these homeless people drug addicts anyway?

In our experience, yes, many homeless people do have some sort of substance abuse problem. A drug habit is often what got them into this predicament in the first place – addiction may have caused them to lose a job and then their home. It might have precipitated a divorce or caused a child to be thrown out of the parents' home. And now that same addiction is the chain which binds them to a life of hardship and despair.

Many addicts on the street have no identification and so cannot get help from shelters (almost all require valid state-issued ID). The money that they beg on street corners each day goes toward their habit and little is left over for food. These are some of the people whom we plan to feed each day.

But aren't you just supporting their habits by giving them free food?

We don't hand out money; we hand out soup. As far as we know, there is no established “soup economy” amongst drug dealers. We are not concerned that our activities will in any way directly support someone's drug habit.

Some might argue that providing free food will allow drug addicts to spend their money on more drugs. The simple fact is that addicts will spend their money on drugs anyway, whether or not they have enough left over to eat.

Our goal is to feed the hungry, not judge the junkies.

The Soup Odyssey Project

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Update on updates

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