The Invisible One In Seventeen

When you are manning a food stall you meet a lot of people going about their lives, passing the food stall. Last year whilst volunteering at another food drive an elderly gentleman [details changed to protect peoples privacy] would occasionally walk past the stall, we would greet each other, I would offer him tea, coffee, food. He always very politely declined and would commend us on a job well done. Months went by like this.

Then one day, I was pleasantly surprised when he stopped for a cup of tea. He tried to pay for the tea, of course I refused. He asked about the running of the stall, if its charity, is it for the homeless, etc. I explained it’s just our way of putting something back in to our community, sharing with those in need in these difficult times… trying best to avoid using the word charity and homeless, and the negative connotations it conjures up. We said our goodbyes and he went on his way with the cup of tea.

I didn’t see him for a few weeks, then one day he came to the stall and asked if he could please have some food. My heart sank “of course, please brother, help yourself”. He slowly, in him own time, took a 1kg packet of rice, pasta sauce, a couple of tins of plum tomato, a loaf of bread, and some bell peppers and quietly slipped away without any further conversation.