I am the director of a nonprofit organization that cares for homeless teenagers and young adults in Burlington, Vermont. At Spectrum Youth and Family Services we have a drop-in center where they can come in any day of the week and receive a free hot lunch and dinner, clothing, take a shower, use our laundry facilities, and there is even a free health clinic in our building. We have 26 beds where they can live for the next few years, while our staff will help them find employment, continue with their education and learn independent living skills such as cooking, budgeting and how to drive a car.
It costs a lot of money to run Spectrum. Half of our revenue comes from state and federal grants, the other half from philanthropy. I have an excellent development team, and a big part of my job is working with them to convince people to donate.
Burlington is the birthplace of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, and in fact both Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen themselves are very faithful and generous donor to Spectrum. Once a year there is a “Free Cone Day” at their main ice cream store downtown and the line always extends down the block.
A few years ago that gave the owner of a local burrito restaurant, Boloco, an idea: “Free Burrito Day,” but with a different spin on it. Yes, anyone could come in that day and receive a free burrito, but they would also be encouraged to donate money to Spectrum while they were there.
I was grateful that the owner of Boloco offered to do this and that he picked us, so I volunteered to help in whatever capacity wasneeded. Local celebrities, including the mayor of Burlington and the University of Vermont hockey coach, stood behind the counter rolling burritos, while my job was to stand there holding a large bowl that had “Please donate to Spectrum” taped to it.
It started at 11 a.m., and immediately a long line of people formed. There were college students, businesspeople and families. I looked at some of the latter and could not help but wonder if this was their meal out due to the fact that they were low-income and usually did not have the disposable income to go to a restaurant.
Most people received their burrito and then placed one or two dollars in the bowl, some people larger amounts, while others put in nothing, which was fine since there was no requirement to donate.
A few hours in, I saw three men in line whom I recognized as being from Burlington’s homeless population. They were dressed practically in rags, were unwashed and unshaved. The Boloco manager had previously given me several “Get Another Free Burrito” cards to hand out to whomever I wished. This seemed like the perfect opportunity, so when the first homeless man came through and was handed his burrito, I offered him one of the cards. When I did so, he responded with a smile that I will never forget. He didn’t say a word, but he looked absolutely delighted, thrilled.
Then he did something I did not expect. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two pennies and motioned to place them into the bowl I was holding. My first reaction was almost to pull the giving bowl back and say, “That’s okay. You don’t have to do that.”
But I didn’t. I resisted that impulse. I recognized that this individual, as homeless and poor as he appeared, had as much right to give as anyone else, and to deny him that would be to deny him his dignity.
He put the two pennies in the bowl. I smiled and thanked him. As he walked away I could not help but think of the Gospel story known as “The Widow’s Mite.” In St. Luke’s Gospel, a poor widow at the temple came and donated two small coins, and Jesus responded, “This poor widow put in more than all the others; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” This is exactly what this scene in front of me felt like, a modern-day re-enactment of the Widow’s Mite.
A few months later I convinced one of the wealthiest people in Vermont to come and visit Spectrum, to see our shelter, Drop-in center and everything else we offer to homeless and at-risk youth. I had heard that he had recently made a six-figure gift to another nonprofit, so I planned to ask him to do the same for us. After touring him around, I asked if he would donate.
“What’s the range of giving?” he asked.
I thought for a moment.
“Well, this year one family made a quarter-million-dollar gift to us,” I replied. “And a homeless man gave us two cents. That’s the range.”
He looked at me quizzically, eyebrows raised, but didn’t say anything.
I then added: “And both gifts mean exactly the same to me.”
Which is true. They did. But I believe that in God’s eyes, the homeless man’s gift meant more.
Mark Redmond is the author of Called: A Memoir.
Image: Nathan Turowsky
Mark Redmond has worked in the field of caring for homeless and at-risk youth for over 42 years, starting as a member of the Covenant House faith community in 1981. He is presently executive director of Spectrum Youth & Family Services in Burlington, Vermont.
He has published columns in Forbes, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Commonweal, The National Catholic Reporter and America. He is also a storyteller. His story “This Church” was onThe Moth Radio Hourand podcast, and he has had stories on other podcasts such as The Lapse, Family Secrets, The Goodness Exchange, Outside the Walls and Risk! A story he told for WGBH’s Stories from the Stage played on most public television stations around the United States, and his one-person show on Broadway,So Shines a Good Deed,premiered in October 2019. Six days later his one-person showThe Moustache Diariespremiered at The Flynn Space in Burlington. He has performed on stage in Boston, Brooklyn, Montreal and Burlington.
His first book,The Goodness Within: Reaching out to Troubled Teens with Love and Compassion(Paulist Press) was published in 2003 and his latest book,Called: A Memoir(Onion River Press) came out in May 2021.
Mark graduated from Villanova University in 1979 and from New York University with a masters in 1986.
Mark lives in Essex, Vermont with his wife Marybeth and son Liam who is a junior at the University of Notre Dame.
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