On Sunday, March 17, 2019, we headed back downtown as planned, to bring Julien a coat and some other items of clothing we had set aside specifically for him. We had looked for and found a backpack attached to a steel frame for $7:00 at the local goodwill store and placed all of the things we had for Julien inside of it.
Remembering the many requests for warm clothing and socks, we also gathered about 20 or so hoodies, a bunch of t-shirts, pairs of socks, some scarves, hats and a large men’s down-filled jacket. As soon as we arrived back at the Salvation Army, a number of people recognized us from the day before and greeted us with a smile. We quickly handed out all of the items of clothing we had brought with us. We could see that this simple gesture of kindness and sharing, did indeed make at least a small difference that day for a few fellow human beings!
After chatting for a while with some of the fellows, we left the Salvation Army on our search for Julien. We had hoped to find him in the same general area we had hung out with him yesterday! We wandered around for over an hour but sadly, despite our best efforts, we were unable to find him! We will keep the backpack in the vehicle for now, and continue keeping an eye out for him anytime we are downtown.
Before we headed back home, we made a quick stop near the Shepherds of Good Hope to drop off a few bars of soap we had promised Carl, as well as a few more women’s Project Dignity bags. As Carl was not around at that time, we gave the soap to Leena, who promised to pass them along to Carl when she met up with him later on. Driving home, we felt that although we were not able to find Julien yet, all in all, it was still a successful, uplifting and wonderful day!