‘They’re just smiles’: Volunteers donate clothes, hot food to Sacramento’s homeless
Food, gifts, hot chocolate, candy canes, warm hats and kazoo renditions of classic Christmas songs brought holiday cheer to Cesar Chavez Plaza, as volunteers gathered Monday to serve Sacramento’s homeless.
More than a dozen members of Mercy Pedalers, including the bicycle-based nonprofit’s founder, Sister Libby Fernandez, helped hand out breakfast burritos, cookies and more to scores of homeless men and women who showed up at the downtown park on a chilly morning.
Volunteers also distributed warm clothing and other miscellaneous personal hygiene and recreational items, starting around 10 a.m.
Some recipients smiled as they enjoyed hot food in front of the Chavez statue, and others looked through rows of shirts, sweaters and socks to find the right fit.
Fernandez, wearing reindeer antlers and her own wide smile, said batteries and flashlights are examples of things that make good donations that the average person may not think of.
“Our homeless guests are outside during the night, and often they can’t see, and they can guard their stuff much better when they have flashlights,” she said.
Mercy Pedalers and the family of Kelly Brothers collaborated on what organizers called an early Christmas in the park.
“The biggest thing that we really enjoy about this is the respect from the guests themselves,” Fernandez said after playing “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” on a kazoo. “They ask for very little and they’re just smiles. I’m going around saying ‘Merry Christmas!’ to our guests and they go, ‘Oh, I want a hug!’”
Mercy Pedalers is composed of volunteers “who pedal through the streets of Sacramento connecting with men and women who are experiencing homelessness,” according to its website.
Fernandez, of Religious Sisters of Mercy, founded the nonprofit in 2017 after 20 years at Loaves and Fishes, including over a decade as its executive director.
As of October, Mercy Pedalers had about 75 volunteers cycling the Sacramento area, including midtown, downtown, Oak Park, the Alhambra corridor, Carmichael and the Arden Arcade area.
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 12:58 PM.
