Beer for the Homeless

I surely got your attention with the title. Don't worry, our passion for compassion did not lead us to go hand out beer to the homeless.... But it did lead us to spend a day volunteering at the first North Texas Beer Festival raising awareness of the Samaritan Inn, Collin Counties only homeless shelter.


Since the organizers of the festival were kindly donating the proceeds of the silent auction to the Samaritan Inn and we regularly volunteer at the Inn, we were asked if we were interested in volunteering for the Beer Festival. Being the brew enthusiast that I am, I jumped at the opportunity and volunteered us to represent the Inn.




Many people piled into Plano Center and stood in long lines to get their 1 ounce samples of the latest creations from their favorite breweries. We found our home sandwiched between the New Belgium booth and some college athletics something or other. Since we didn't have free beer to give out we weren't exactly the hit of the show. While people slowly moved by waiting for their samples of New Belgium's latest many tried their best not to make eye contact with us while others inquired about what we were doing sitting there is our purple Samaritan Inn shirts.


I must admit, I had a few samples of my own,... so we made small talk about beer, answered questions and educated the North Texas Beer Culture about the good work the Samaritan Inn is doing for the homeless in Collin County. We naturally did our best to tell everyone how they could get involved. Many were passionate about the work we were doing and others thought volunteering might be a great way to teach their families that there are people in need out there. The thing that most surprised us was how many people had no idea that there was even a problem with homelessness in Collin County. We had a chance to share our hearts with these people and reminded them that many of the people they know may be just one paycheck away from homelessness themselves. And that the families and individuals that find themselves in new of a place to stay are more often people just like you and me; trying to make ends meet, looking for purposeful relationships and hoping for a break.

We had a great time talking with many great people, and a few crazy ones,... If anything we were able to open a new groups eyes to the needs of others right here at home. And I was reminded once again that there is more to life than filling our bellies with beer, our homes with stuff and our lives with serving ourselves.



For more information about the Samaritan Inn, the amazing service they offer to the community or how you can get involved go to http://www.thesamaritaninn.org