It’s 2 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, and while most people
are at the pool or spending time with family I am in a nondescript warehouse
off Truman Rd. just east of downtown. We are cooking, sorting, and prepping a
fleet of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans for their delivery routes.
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| The Uplift vans being prepared for delivery. |
We are at Uplift HQ, the home base for Uplift, a local
charity that delivers meals to local homeless people twice a week. Here at the
warehouse, complete with kitchen and sorting facilities, hot meals, sanitary
items, clothing, and supplies are prepared and loaded onto 3 trucks that run 3
separate routes through the KC area.
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| Uplift: Powered by Mercedes-Benz |
There’s two hours to go until the trucks depart as
volunteers begin trickling in. Local families and churches rotate through the
cooking duty, with scheduled cooks twice a week. I’m on lemonade duty, charged
with making 7-12 gallons for each of the three trucks. Others are loading
supplies such as socks, toilet paper, and canned goods (to hold them over until
the next delivery day).
At 5:00 the trucks depart and our Aristocrat Motors service
manager Jim Schmidt is driving the East route. Jim has been with Uplift for
years. It started with his wife, Jennifer, who began helping out the
organization. Eventually Jim joined, and they have been going out in the truck together
for years. They now sit on the board of directors for the organization.
Originally Uplift used old bread trucks to deliver, but have since then traded
them out with Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans, a more reliable and maneuverable
alternative.
We arrive at the first stop, which is on the side of a
highway by the edge of a large wood. Jim hops out of the driver’s seat and sets
off into the trees, with me close behind. Amazingly there is a trail in this remote
area of trees. After following along the trail we arrive at an enormous camp
site. There are several pieced-together homes in the clearing, and Jim goes
door to door, alerting them to our presence. He knows everyone there and I’m
quickly introduced to all of the residents.
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| A makeshift home at a homeless camp. |
We lead them out of the woods to the truck where all of them
get a hot meal, some cold lemonade, and enough supplies to last them until the
next time the truck comes by in a few days. I chat with a few of them while
everyone else goes through the line, and each one displays an overwhelming
sense of gratitude.
There are 14 more stops on the night’s route. Some of the
stops are campsites like the first; others are under overpasses or behind
warehouses. One is in a junkyard, another just off a highway.
To give a little background on myself, I have a small
one-bedroom apartment in the 909 Walnut Tower, the tallest residential building
in Missouri and a part of the KC skyline. The east route stops are all within 5
miles of downtown with a direct view of my building.
The reason I mention this is while delivering meals it is
easy to feel like being on a different planet. Situations that I couldn’t begin
to relate to came into focus when a view of my building was constantly in
sight, reminding me how well I have it.
After delivering to 15 stops and serving over 65 of Kansas
City’s homeless we returned back to base. The trucks were cleaned, supplies
refilled, and everything was reset in preparation of Tuesday’s run. After the
last light was turned off I headed home with the profound feeling of
satisfaction, both glad for what I have and happy to have helped someone in
need.
To get involved, visit
www.Uplift.org
for more information. You can donate, volunteer to sort, or sign up to deliver
yourself!
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