Sanitation Driver Delivers Food, Toiletries to Homeless Sleeping on Street
This article originally posted on GMA.Yahoo.Com
At 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning, much of Silver Spring, Md., is still quiet, but Arnold Harvey has already started his day.
He’s a commercial driver for the sanitation company Waste Management, but he also makes very special, personal deliveries.
In 2007, Harvey noticed a growing number of families sleeping on the streets of his overnight route. He and his wife, Theresa, who are both in their 50s, took immediate action, making sandwiches and collecting blankets to donate.
On this Saturday morning, Harvey was delivering to the homeless bags filled with food, toiletries and blankets. He calls his deliveries “love bags.”
After so many years, the homeless people recognize Harvey.
“Sometimes I guess when the shelters get full they have no other place to go … So they’ve got to turn to the streets even if it’s for a night or two they’re out there,” Harvey said.
Harvey is deeply touched by the people’s plight.
“As long as I know there’s somebody out here … It’s hard to go home sit at a table eat a meal. That’s it,” he said, explaining why he has such a strong passion for helping people.
The Harveys’ street ministry led the couple to create God’s Connection Transition (GCT), a nonprofit that now provides donated food and supplies to 5,000 families a month from a rented warehouse in Gaithersburg, Md. The Harveys convinced major companies and local stores to donate.
