There's a long story behind this. If you want to know read here & here.

Taken at the 59th st. N, R, W, stop at Central Park on my way into work on a Sunday.

This has been blogged about already, but in more than one location, so I'm basically going  to steal from others and reference them in this post so we have a central idea of what's been going on in my small group at Origins.

Last week, Daniel, Jorge, and I ate at Qdoba in Murray Hill. Good burritos and the service was excellent. I've posted an email Jorge sent out to our Origins community to describe how things started:

As many of you have heard, last week as a few of us were eating there discussing what it could look like if even a few of the chain restaurants who pride themselves in their fresh food in the city would be willing to give us their food at the end of the night to feed the homeless rather than throw it out. As we were eating, Daniel in his boldness for the Kingdom calls the manager over and asks him if he would be willing to do it. The manager without hesitation says absolutely, gives Daniel his business card and tells him that he will even store the food overnight so that we can pick it up the next morning.

Today Daniel went to Qdoba to pick up the food that they were to hold for us and this is from his email::

Long story short (I'm sure Jorge has already told everyone), I went to go pick up leftover food from Qdoba on 34th b/t 2nd and 3rd this morning. I get there and a different manager says yes, he's gotten instructions from the other manager Alex to give us the leftovers. He tells me to wait and everything should be ready in 10 minutes. The whole staff then proceeds to make me FRESH burritos! Not dinky size things, but the real deal with steak and chicken freshly grilled off the stove. I try to tell him that we don't want to cut into their profits but they just shrug it off saying not a problem and start assembling burritos. At the end... I count at least 50 burritos!

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Your role now in this community is to show them love like they have never received before. I want to implore you to give them your business. The ideal situation will be that they will be flooded by people who come in saying, I heard about you all feeding the homeless so this is where i have decided to spend my money. What an amazing impact it would have on their staff and management if our community rallies around them for their generosity. Please pass the along to everyone you know, lets give them more business than they can handle.

They are located on 34th street between 2nd and 3rd. QDOBA

Please feel free to use their generosity as an example of how you can step out for the kingdom today.

Creating community starts with you.

So from that starting point came last night where our small group, led by Greg was taking a step forward to give to the hungry and homeless of NYC. See his post about last night (with picture goodness).  From there we went into the streets of NYC around Times Square and Port Authority Bus terminal where there are typically a gathering of homeless. Daniel and I learned of a place called Open Door where many homeless are fed and rest, but as great of a place it can be, it isn't according to Chris, a man we spoke with in great detail.  Here's what Daniel had to say from his encounter with Chris:

Chris - Him and his friend boldly asked me for sandwiches and I replied we're giving them to homeless peeps. he replied, "I am one." I was a bit amazed. He was well dressed in a a leather jacket, silk scarf, didn't smell at all, and very intelligent. Through our conversation, I learned a few things. It's actually illegal now in NYC at least to give homeless clothes that you wouldn't wear yourself. So a lot of them have decent clothes now. But it also means the majority of them who aren't of clear mind have nothing. It makes it hard to tell who's homeless since we rely on visual cues of shabbiness, so forth. the last three meals he's had are week old turkey sandwich, another week old turkey sandwich, and a week old pizza with some slime on it. The fruit they get is probably a month old. So even our PBJ's that are fresh are a godsend to them. Upon hearing that, Jason gave them burritos. Yeah baby, fresh Qdoba burritos.

Chris just had a run of bad luck. he was robbed of everything in NYC. His laptop, cell phones, wallet, and cash. So basically he couldn't prove who he was, couldn't figure out where his parents were since they moved and unlisted their number, and is now trying to pull it all back together. Even getting a birth certificate is near impossible since he needs $30 to get it and no one is willing to give him that sort of money. That's his biggest problem right now, just getting the money to get the necessary things to restart. He told me it's hard cuz there are a lot of "crazies" on the street and that he shares space to sleep with and a lot of them carry diseases or bugs. He sleeps in a shelter called "Open Doors" on 41st and 9th (down the street from Origins office) and basically sleeps in a metal folding chair. So because of that, he doesn't get much sleep and isn't always ready for interviews or whatever he needs to do.

Another thing is even the Shelter systems are corrupt. Systemic evil has even invaded the lowest levels. The administrators go through everyone's locker and mail even though it's illegal. It's understandable cuz they do look for drugs or dangerous substances but who knows what else they take. These people working in the homeless shelters don't make that much money themselves and whatever money "crazies" do get can easily be parted with. As the saying goes, "A fool and his money..." So Chris is looking for his IRS refund check but it hasn't come yet... Or has it and someone took it? Who knows really. But one day Chris says he'll be on the cover of both Forbes and Fortune. I tell him if I see him then, I'm hitting him up for a burrito.

I'm not posting this to get praise for what we did last night, because in the great scheme of things it was just a step forward into a world that needs love each and every day. That was day 1 for us and I pray its not the last. NYC needs love as much as any major city in the world. We have a chance to make an impact in the world in which we live in.

Its so easy to say this and walk away, but if you see me, ask me if I'm still trying to make a difference. When you ask, I hope and pray my answer is "Yes... Every. Single. Day".

Last night I went to a concert at Webster Hall to see one of my most favorite bands, BADLY DRAWN BOY. If you ever saw the movie "About A Boy", he did the soundtrack. Great movie, better music. :)

I went w/ my friend Val and had a great time. The opener was Adaem (ahh-dehm was how you pronounce it).   Fun times, great music, so I share a video of his from youtube. 

I spent Saturday in Hoboken, NJ. I know... WHY? Well it seems their calendar is about two weeks too fast and they have a city-wide St. Patrick's Day celebration. This is something they like to do, apparently. There are over 50+ pubs in this little 1-sq. mile town just over the Hudson river - you can still see the Manhattan skyline in the background. The streets are crowded with people and the bars open at 11am with lines of people trying to get in, plus theres a parade.

I went w/ my friends Zach, Val, Allison and met up with some of their co-workers. Valerie and Allison are both from Atlanta and I got to know them though a mutual friend back home. Its nice to have some southern roots up here in the north.

Right now its snowing like crazy outside, but they don't expect more than an inch or two total. Regardless, its wicked cold outside. Lows this week will get into the teens and below.