Message From The Founder
I’m Jacqueline Norvell aka the Brown Bag Lady. This idea first came to me Christmas morning in 2012 when my son and I packed up my car and we went downtown and stood on a corner, and handed out turkey dinners.
"The struggles along the way
are only meant to shape you for your purpose."
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~Chadwick Boseman
Christmas 2013, we did the same thing, but we also handed out gently used coats and clothes that we had been collecting all year. Hence…
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Brown Bag Lady was born and officially started in March 2014.
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We work strictly from donations. We want our unhoused neighbors to know that we see them. We tape a positive quote onto every container of food that we hand out. It’s just a simple act of kindness that the recipients of our meals look forward to. Often asking “What’s the quote this month?!”
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We started off making 100 brown bag lunches to be handed out on the first-Sunday of each month. Because of the generosity of the community, we are now able to distribute over 200 lunches during the first Sunday outing and countless additional meals throughout the month. We’ve also been able to add hygiene kits, cat and dog food supplies and medication, gently worn clothes and shoes, tents, and sleeping bags. We’ve even helped a few people get off the street and secure permanent housing, which we also fully furnished.
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We tell the people on Skid Row that we will always come back. Some of them have said to me that we are going to flake or we won’t show up. I promised them “Come hell or high water, rain or shine, if no one else shows up, I will be here and you will have a meal!"
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I’m proud to say that we haven’t missed a Sunday in EIGHT YEARS … not even during the PANDEMIC!