The weatherman had been calling for a snow blizzard all week long. People were stocking up on food and household supplies at the grocery stores. The city was preparing for a shutdown. Then on Friday January 22, at about 12:30 p.m., it started while I was selling my papers on Connecticut Avenue and M streets. It snowed all day Saturday and part of Sunday, accumulating about 2 and a half feet of snow.
The untold story is about hunger, greed, sharing and extending your hand. You don’t hear about or see it if you are not part of the homeless community.
Our first blizzard of 2016 shut down our city. That includes the churches and other organizations that feed the homeless. While being snowed in at the Creative Center for Non Violence shelter (CCNV), I saw men go hungry because of the blizzard. At CCNV, where the nonprofit D.C. Central Kitchen is located, we are only served one meal per day: dinner. On Saturdays we don’t have to leave the block to be fed. Churches, nonprofits and other private organizations serve food all day long. But on the second day of the blizzard, only D.C. Central Kitchen was able to serve us.
I wondered why D.C. Central Kitchen was able to serve the other shelters. I watched guys buy and sell 25-cent ramen noodles for one dollar. Some of us were fortunate enough to have food in our lockers that we shared with others.
Food was tight. Imagine being snowed in in a building of over 100 hungry men with negative attitudes, limited seats, limited food and only one microwave. I really do thank D.C. Central Kitchen for extending their hand and preparing our meals in advance.
Well, as far as myself, I really enjoyed the blizzard of 2016. I love when it snows. I spent a lot of my time out shoveling the snow around the shelter, Dupont Circle and Georgetown. Can’t wait for the next one!
