With all the emphasis on washing hands and using hand sanitizers to combat the novel coronavirus, a team of volunteers set up a sink on March 19, in Atlanta, Georgia to help the homeless be safe from the pandemic.
Two-time Grammy-winning musician and Atlanta resident Lecrae Moore was one of the volunteers as well. The “Messengers” singer is an active member of his community and actively preaches about servant-hood and Christ-likeness through his music.
“When the pandemic hit, I thought, ‘What is the homeless community doing about these warnings?’” Lecrae said.
So he spoke with friend Terence Lester, speaker, activist and executive director of the nonprofit organization Love Beyond Walls. Together, Lecrae, Lester and other members of the organization assembled and installed 15 hand-washing stations throughout local parks and bridges.
Yesterday, we covered parks and bridges with love and support.
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Thank you to those of you that have supported our work and continue to encourage us.
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We are adamantly working to make “Love Sinks In” a more permanent project.
.#lovebeyondwalls #LoveSinksIn pic.twitter.com/xnAQl94HBd— lovebeyondwalls (@LoveBeyondWalls) March 25, 2020
They shared on social media that they had covered parks and bridges with love and support. “Thank you to those of you that have supported our work and continue to encourage us. We are adamantly working to make “Love Sinks In” a more permanent project.
The portable, refillable sinks that they installed can hold up to 5 gallons of water and enough soap to match. It would provide the homeless a chance to reduce the chance of infection spreading.
“It’s working,” one Atlanta resident said, smiling as he washed his hands.
Thank you @quicktake!
.#lovebeyondwalls @lovebeyondwalls pic.twitter.com/Ar7ldmTIY4— Terence Lester (@imTerenceLester) March 21, 2020
“Social distance is a luxury that the homeless can’t afford,” said Shirley Raines, founder of the nonprofit Beauty 2 The Streetz that provides services to homeless people in Los Angeles, California.
“I think the homeless are a forgotten community.” She said, “When coronavirus started getting bad here, the homeless that I help were reaching out to me, telling me that no one was helping them,” she added.
Posted by Ted McCloud on Thursday, March 19, 2020
Lecrae and the organisation have done a valuable service to the homeless community and their sacrifice is modeled in the mission statement posted in bright red on the LBW website: “Our mission is to raise awareness of societal needs through technology and storytelling, and mobilize people to take part in it.”
This group saw a need and met it, including handing out “like a gazillion cheeseburgers,” according to Lecrae. “The smiles we get from doing this current work is all worth it.” Sam says, “thank you all for not forgetting about us!”
The smiles we get from doing this current work is all worth it.
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Sam says, “thank you all for not forgetting about us!”
.#lovebeyondwalls #LoveSinksIn pic.twitter.com/l7G451KIcq— lovebeyondwalls (@LoveBeyondWalls) March 25, 2020
“We’re out here doing our part to ensure that people have access to basic necessity during this pandemic,” Lester said in a video posted on Twitter.
Lecrae said, that he was looking for a way to serve people in Atlanta as it holds a special place in his heart. “It’s a major city and in a major city, like this, it speaks very loud. The love is loud, appreciation is loud, but the problems are loud as well,” Lecrae said. “The city has shown me so much love, so I wanted to be sure to show it back,” he added.
Jesus Christ rejected cultural barriers and went about serving the poor and the outcast in society. Today Lecrae and Terence Lester have put love into action and have done something so powerful that generations would remember.