Curley tries to help homeless; drives away discouraged

John Curley learned a valuable lesson the last time he did a homeless count with the Union Gospel Mission in Seattle.

They told him, “our business is not to judge,” as they handed out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to people living under I-5.

“All we’re going to do is give you something to alleviate the pain of hunger,” Curley recalled. “Maybe it clears your mind for a brief period of time. Maybe it gives you energy to get you out from under the bridge.”

Curley recently adopted the practice for himself – handing out Clif bars from his car window.

“Here’s a Clif bar, enjoy it, maybe it’ll clear your head long enough you can get on the right track.”

While running some errands on Sunday, Curley came upon an older homeless gentleman. He rolled down the window and said, “Hey, here’s a Clif bar for you.”

“Oh, ok,” the man told Curley as he took the treat. The man took a few steps, turned around, and came back.

“Uh, you got peanut butter in there?”

Now, being the patient guy that Curley is, he took back the chocolate chip flavor and dug out a peanut butter Clif bar for the homeless man.

As he drove away, thinking about the exchange, Curley grew angrier and angrier. He even rethought the whole effort to help people.

“Don’t ask for the peanut butter, is all I’ll say,” Curley said. “Just because you see the box that has some peanut butter in there, don’t ask for that one. Be grateful for what you have.”

Curley doesn’t really know what to make of the experience. He’s going to keep the box of Clif bars on his passenger seat and he’ll try again soon.

Would you have done the same? What’s your advice for Curley?