Tammy Meise had one thing in mind as the weekend approached.
She wanted to make the homeless folks of Prince George smile.
On a rainy Saturday morning in a downtown alley, Meise got her wish. She gave one of the 50 bagged lunches she and her friends had put together to a man outside the Ketyso Yoh Centre men's shelter and he broke out into a huge smile that touched Meise's soul.
"When he smiled like that I just felt like crying," said Meise, who hit upon the idea when she found the Facebook page, Make The Homeless Smile. The Facebook post led to a YouTube video which challenged the world to take up the cause.
"They want to start an epidemic to make the homeless smile," said Meise. "I watched the video with all these random acts of kindness. It spoke to my heart and I decided to take that on and put it to my friends."
Save-On Foods in the Hart provided fresh fruit and Homesteader Meats gave the group sandwich meat at a discount. Dawn Taylor baked cookies for the project and helped distribute the lunches. Having volunteered for street church duty on Sundays with the St. Andrew United Church, she knew getting involved with Meise's project would prove satisfying.
"It's always good to give back, and it doesn't take much to bake a bunch of cookies," said Taylor. "My theory was, I always loved it when my mommy baked."
Project volunteer Mike Atkinson-Ross said street people are often misunderstood by the rest of society and that adds to the struggles they face trying to make ends meet .
"Helping people out who need it shows me not to take for granted the things I have," said Atkinson-Ross. "People automatically assume when they see a street person that they're violent and they're afraid to approach them. They judge a book by its cover."
Meise's friend Laurie Thompson says the need is great for similar projects at all times of the year. She encouraged others to find ways to help the down-on-their-luck segment of society.
"It makes our job a little harder with the rain but it makes it that much more enjoyable to bring smiles to people's faces," said Thompson. "I get what goes on in this city. It's the everyday life we don't pay attention to sometimes. We think they will take care of themselves. I know a lot of them choose to live on the streets but that doesn't mean they should go hungry because that's what they chose to do. Most of them are harmless and are in situation where they can't help themselves."
Thompson already knows the city has a large heart, judging by the outpouring of generosity from people who responded to an ad and donated furniture and household items to help her son and his young family. With a new baby on the way, they arrived last month from Calgary in two compact cars which contained all their possessions. They now have all they need to furnish their home.
The group of eight wandered through the streets from shelter to shelter and it took less than an hour to find 50 people to accept their tasty offerings. Their arrival at the Active Support Against Poverty Shelter on Dominion Street was greeted by a steady stream of happy men and women who showed their appreciation. Shelter worker Gina Grigg said it was a pleasant surprise to see ordinary group of concerned citizens come to the door bearing gifts.
"When people do stuff like this it shows that somebody cares," said Grigg.
"The economy is just killing everybody. We have 45 beds and they're usually full. When we get weather like this, where are they going to go? When you come and see our people, every day it reminds you how lucky we are."
