Most people not only like their birthday, the LOVE their birthday. It's a time to reflect, let loose, get gifts, eat cake, party and "turn up" as the young folks say. Birthday celebrations get a little smaller and close knit as we get older, but when we were younger, most us of couldn't wait until it was our birthday.
But six-year-old Chicago kindergartner, Aramani Crews, decided to do away with her birthday celebration and feed the homeless instead.
That's right, she wanted to feed the homeless instead of having cake and ice cream for herself.
Armani had been begging her parents to feed the homeless people who resided in her community. But her parents thought “she was joking,” her mom, Artesha Crews, told CNN.com.
“I said, ‘OK, we’ll make some sandwiches,'” Artesha said. Here daughter then responded with, “No. I want the same thing we’d have at my birthday party.”
The girl, whose birthday was March 5, persisted even after her father, Antoine, told her that she wouldn’t get a birthday gift.
So the family spent $300 buying food to deliver to homeless people in East Garfield Park. They purchased chicken, fish, spaghetti, corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, rolls, cake, cookies, fruit and water.
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The family also put together care packages for those in need. Each recipient received a toothbrush, deodorant, toothpaste, hand sanitizer and a snack such as a granola bar.
According to 2015 statistics, 564,708 people were experiencing homelessness — meaning they were sleeping outside or in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program.
Despite a national decrease in unsheltered homelessness, only 18 states reported decreases in the number of people living in unsheltered locations, including the street, cars, and abandoned buildings. The national decrease in unsheltered homelessness was driven in large part by decreases in unsheltered homelessness in Florida, Texas, and Georgia.
On any given night in Illinois, there are over 13,000 homeless people.
So when Armani and her family did this, a whopping 125 people were lined around the block.
"It was a beautiful thing to see and a blessing," her mother said. "One man told us that he hadn't had a hot meal in a long time."
The family plans to make the gesture a family tradition and host more food drives in the future.
“It was nice to be nice,” Armani said after the great deed.
But don't think that this is something that's just one and done. The 6-year-old plans to host another community meal for the homeless, with the family set to return to the park “within the next couple of weeks,” Artesha said.
