Hello everyone, I am Anshuman Mishra, a sixteen year old junior at Dublin Jerome High School.
Here in Dublin, OH, winters are brutal. Last year the cold set in early and hung around until April. I was headed to guitar class with my mom in early March. It was brutally cold that Thursday, somewhere in the 20s, and there was still snow and ice on the roads. When we passed under a bridge, I noticed someone I hadn’t seen before: an emaciated man in a rather thin jacket and a backpack standing away from the edge of the road, under the bridge, taking shelter from the elements. He looked utterly miserable, and it appeared as though his backpack was his only possession. I could tell that he was homeless.
Something about his situation struck me as profoundly wrong. Nobody should be forced to weather winter without any protection. I felt as though society had let that man down. Later, I did some research to see if that man’s situation was an anomaly, or unique. Unfortunately, In 2013, there were over 1,400 homeless people in the Columbus area with almost half of those ending up on the streets every night with no shelter. The realization that these people have to face temperatures below freezing with no shelter whatsoever has spurred me on to find a way to help alleviate this problem.
I’m determined that this winter fewer unfortunate people will have to face the brunt of Dublin’s weather alone. A solid way to make sure people aren’t suffering alone in the cold would be to provide sleeping bags. Just one more homeless person in a sleeping bag is one less person left to sleep in the elements, to potentially fall sick or be incapacitated.
I intend to provide more than one sleeping bag, but I’m going to need your help.
MY GOAL – Raise $3000 to buy and distribute 100 sleeping bag to the homeless by this Thanksgiving.
Can I count on you?
– Anshuman