Every day, Gail Rebovich calls a different place home.
“We’re pretty much going from place to place — a tent, abandoned houses, any place we can go,” she said.
Rebovich, 31, was gathered with a dozen or so fellow homeless under Akron’s Y-bridge at noon Sunday when volunteers arrived to pass out free bagged lunches and words of encouragement.
The outreach was part of the region’s first #HashtagLunchbag, a nationwide effort to feed and inspire the homeless population.
Akron’s Young Black Professionals Coalition helped organize the local event, which kicked off Sunday morning with about 50 volunteers packing more than 200 lunches at the Akron Urban League.
The volunteers then spread out across the city to hand out the free meals in areas where homeless people were gathered.
Each lunch included donated sandwiches, fruit, chips, water and other goodies, along with personal notes containing prayers and inspirational messages.
“Be not a slave to your own past,” one note advised. “Tomorrow is full of promises.”
“I know it’s something small, but it’s something to let them know we care,” said Roop Bains, 29, of Columbus, who helped bring the event to Akron after organizing an outreach earlier this year in Columbus.
The goal is to help the homeless improve their lives, said Bains, a Nordonia High School alumna who works for the U.S. Department of Defense.
“We don’t want to just pass out lunches,” she said. “We want to get to know them as well.”
Rebovich said she appreciated the visit and food from Bains and the other volunteers.
“Honestly, I think it’s really good they’re doing this, so people who can’t make it to other feeds can get something in their stomachs,” Rebovich said as her black dog named Mamma rested on a jacket by her feet.
“We’ll have to bring doggy treats next time,” Bains said. “What do you want from us that we can bring to you?”
The outreach effort started on Christmas Day 2012 in a Los Angeles apartment with a small group of friends who prepared meals to distribute in homeless communities, according to the group’s website, www.hashtaglunchbag.com.
The founders posted pictures on Twitter and Instagram tagged #HashtagLunchbag, inspiring others to start similar efforts in their communities.
Tanesha Walker, 25, a doctoral student at Kent State University and volunteer coordinator for the Young Black Professionals Coalition of Akron, helped organize Sunday’s local event.
“I was all for it,” she said. “It’s something that Akron needs.”
Organizers want to distribute lunches at least once every other month in Akron, eventually increasing the program to monthly events as support and participation grows.
For more information or to get involved in #HashtagLunchbag, call Bains at 216-408-6453.
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Powell on Twitter at twitter.com/CherylPowellABJ.
