At the Feeding the Hungry Night, from left: Jess Hodgson, Morag McLean, Richard Tyson, Ann Hobbes, Michelle Kay, Paula Hodgson, Ron Neiman and Heather Holden.

Every few months a group from Sutton Group – Select Realty in London, Ont. participates in the Salvation Army’s Feeding the Hungry Night. Almost 200 homeless and hungry people line up every Thursday to enjoy a free, hot meal. Many sales reps also collect clothes in advance to give out to attendees.  Sales rep Paula Hodgson says she hopes that other companies and individuals will consider participating in this rewarding, enlightening experience.

“These people haven’t chosen to live on the street,” she says. “One woman in a wheelchair brings her 10-year-old son who has Down syndrome. Wherever his mother goes, the boy comes along quietly and eats. Where is she getting a job? Who’s looking after her boy while she’s at a job? It’s sad really.

“We are very, very fortunate with the income we make and the cities that we live in, so we do this to give back and bring more awareness to the true issue of homelessness.  There are a lot of misconceptions about homelessness. People think of it as a poverty issue and, really, homelessness is a mental health issue, in most cases.”