Homeless Outreach: 7 Tips for Handing Out Food & Supply Bags

How to make a big impact with a small package, while staying safe

Paul Ryburn, M.Sc.
4 min readApr 1, 2024
man wearing “love your neighbour” cap
Photo by Nina Strehl on Unsplash

Handing out food and supply bags to the needy can be a rewarding experience. Whether you walk or bike around, you have the opportunity to touch many lives.

I am currently homeless; in fact, I am writing this on the Notes app on my phone on Easter Sunday. Below I’ve rounded up some tips. These will help you do a lot of good as opposed to just a little. They will also help keep you, and the people you serve, safe.

1- Consider a day other than Sunday.

Not only do most people have the day off on Sunday, but it’s also the Lord’s day for those who are Christians. It’s a natural day to want to perform good acts.

However, the homeless need to eat the other six days of the week too.

If you can arrange for your bag distribution to take place on a weekday, it will be appreciated very much. If the weekend is the only time your group can do it, Saturday is better than Sunday.

2- Check around to see if anyone else in the area is feeding the homeless the same day you plan to.

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Paul Ryburn, M.Sc.

I write about writing, ideas, creativity, homelessness, intuition, spirituality, life lessons. Ex-college teacher Twitter: @paulryburn