Mike Yankowski remembers sitting in a fast food restaurant, hungry, with no money, eavesdropping on a Christian Bible study group, and waiting for the group of Christians to share a meal with him and his friend. It didn’t happen.
This encounter and others changed Yankowski as he and a college friend discovered firsthand what it was like to (purposely) be homeless for five months in six different cities.
Yankowski, author of Under the Overpass, shared his testimony recently at the annual Washington Conference Youth Rally and challenged his audience of young people to “Live Loud” for Christ.
As a part of the youth rally, more than 300 young people and sponsors headed into Seattle, Wash., to a community center where they made nearly 2,000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch sacks. The sandwiches were distributed to six Seattle-area homeless shelters and parks.
At their debriefing session, young people indicated the outreach project was “eye-opening.”
Young people created a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich production line to assemble nearly 2,000 sandwiches for Seattle's homeless. (Heidi Martella)
Each lunch sack includes: three sandwiches, fruit, graham crackers, and literature. Young people also sort warm clothing and toiletries to give to Seattle-area homeless shelters. (Heidi Martella)
Young people make 2,000 sandwiches to help Seattle homeless. (Heidi Martella)
