Our hearts melted when Jaden Smith (@c.syresmith) served over 500 vegan meals to the homeless in #NYC in February 2020. The I Love You Truck passed out free vegan meals (dark leafy greens, sweet potato, black beans, and grains) to the homeless community. To date, he's passed out over 38,000 vegan meals to vulnerable people across the country.
Lessons Learned
Food trucks are versatile and aren't just used for late night eats. The I Love You Food Truck has fed people from coast to coast. He originally launched the truck in Los Angeles' Skid Row area (approximately 8,000 homeless people live in the area), and the truck made it's way to New York to 'love' on the homeless community on the east coast as well.
The homeless community appreciates nutritious meals, too! Let's be honest, most of the time when you give food to the homeless community it's usually something "not so healthy". (Maybe we should speak for ourselves.) Recently, we fed the homeless and the young man mentioned that he did not eat pork. Many thought since he was homeless that he shouldn't be so particular; however, we learned that just because someone is homeless doesn't mean that they may not have dietary restrictions. That young man knows what works for his body better than we did. We took pride in honoring his request.
Food is not the only thing the homeless community needs. The next time you feed the homeless, include a few additional items like feminine products, socks, undergarments, and other clothing items. Do this and watch the gratitude on their face. We've witnessed it.