“It’ll be good publicity for the store,” Paul commented, always with his eye on benefits to Brooke’s.
“That’s not the point. But maybe it will set an example for others to help them too. If every business in the area reached out to help all these people, they’d be better off than they are now. Everyone wants to turn a blind eye and let someone else help them. I want to be the someone else. I thought about starting a soup kitchen, but it’s too complicated. You need a lot of permits to serve food, food spoils, and you lose a big percentage. Tarps and sleeping bags don’t go bad, and you don’t need a permit to give them away. Maybe no one will show up, but let’s try it and see what happens.”
Two of the female employees looked nervous after Spencer described her plan and spoke up.
“What if they attack us, and someone gets hurt, or they rob us?” one of them asked Spencer.
“I hope that won’t happen. But you should only do it if you want to. There are no points for doing it, and no black marks against you if you don’t. This isn’t part of your job at Brooke’s, it’s an experiment I want to try. We may find out that it doesn’t work, or that no one comes. It’s just a drop in the ocean of what they need, but if we can ease their pain a little, then it’s a good thing to do. But only do it if you want to.”
Marcy was smiling as she listened to Spencer speak to the group standing in the garage. She was thinking how proud Thornton would have been of her. He had had a strong sense of community too, not just commerce. He had a big heart, just like his granddaughter.
“Your Grampa would be very proud of you,” Marcy whispered to her, and Spencer smiled. She pointed to the coffee machine she had bought, and promised that there would be doughnuts, fruit, coffee, and sodas on the nights they worked there.
“How late will we stay open?” a young man asked, whom Spencer recognized from designer shoes. He was wearing torn jeans and high-top Converse for his off hours. Each employee had a locker at the store where they left their uniform clothes.
“As late as we have customers,” Spencer answered. “You can leave whenever you need to. We’ll need a night or two to load the bags. And a night or more to hand them out. I have no idea how many people will show up. This is all new to me too.”
They stayed to chat for another hour, and agreed to load the bags on Monday. And they planned to hand them out on Tuesday. Only one young man dropped out. He said he was afraid to catch an illness from being in close contact with the homeless people. He said it quietly to Spencer before he left, and she smiled and said that was fine. The other fourteen were excited about the plan. They were all chattering animatedly when they left, and Spencer was left with Marcy, Beau, and Paul, as she turned off the lights and locked up, and closed the iron gate.
“This could turn into a bigger project than you expect it to,” Paul warned her, always the voice of reason and caution in their midst.
“We’ll just do what we can,” she said, with a peaceful look. What they were planning to do made her happy. Her only regret so far was not having thought of it before. People living on the streets weren’t new in the neighborhood, but there were so many of them now, you couldn’t avoid them, or avoid wanting to do something about it, other than calling the police to chase them away.
“I wonder if they’ll stay away from the store now at night,” Beau said as they left the garage.
“It would be good for the store if they do,” Spencer said. “Our customers are upset about them. And Joel spends a lot of time moving them on in the morning.” He was the doorman. “We’ll have to see how it all shakes out.”
“What are you going to call it?” Marcy asked her, as they walked down the street together. She had already said she wanted to help pack the bags, and was familiar with the merchandise since she had ordered it. She had even ordered the tote bags, not knowing what they were for, and was glad she had bought big, strong ones.
“Do we need a name?” Spencer looked surprised. “We shouldn’t tie it to the store. I don’t want to create any liability for Brooke’s.” Paul looked relieved when she said it, and he was wondering if they should get releases from the people who agreed to work at the garage just in case something bad happened. Many of the people on the streets were on drugs or mentally ill or both, and were unpredictable. “What about ‘Free Love’？” Spencer suggested, and they all smiled. “It kind of says what it’s about.”