Sep 13, 2006 10:14 pm US/Pacific
Small Operation, Big Impact
Jefferson Award Winners: Meilanny Haney & Deloris Vaughn
by Barbara Rodgers
(CBS 5)
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Meilanny Haney & Deloris Vaughn
CBS 5
In a kitchen barely big enough for the two of them, Meilanny Haney and Deloris Vaughn frequently prepare enough food to feed about a hundred people.
"She'll take about fifty dollars out of her check, I'll take about fifty out my check," explains Deloris. "We go the Food Maxx and the Grocery Outlet and we can buy the bulk food, like big bags of chicken, big bags of vegetables, stuff like that."
The roommates, both youth counselors in their early 20's, pack up the food, then set out to give it away to the homeless in Richmond, Oakland, and San Francisco. The idea came to them one night three years ago when they were leaving a restaurant with their leftovers.
"We had some steak left and I was really full," says Meilanny. "There was a guy holding a sign, so we gave him the food and it was really fulfilling to see him eat it."
"Right as he touched it," Deloris adds, "It just did something to me on the inside. It was a priceless feeling, priceless."
There is a saying that the good you do comes back to you. Well, for Meilanny and Deloris that's certainly true. Just about a month after they started helping the homeless, something very good happened to them. Meilanny had entered a contest and she won a brand new SUV.
Deloris says, "We were just so happy that she won. But right after that, I was like, you know why you won this!"
"It was kind of obvious!" laughs Meilanny.
It was their sign, the two women say, that they were supposed to do more. So now about twice a month, they pass out dinners to the homeless and needy wherever they find them. On cold winter days, they also bring along warm hats, scarves, gloves and socks.
"I think it is beautiful of them because you know it's something that comes out of their heart everyday," one homeless woman told us.
"You know, all kinds of food helps," adds a homeless man. "It's nourishing and it's kind of cold out here, so it felt great."
"Even if we don't' have money to prepare food, I almost never pass up a person who's standing outside a fast food place. Even if I only have five dollars, I'll take a dollar and buy them a burger or something." says Meilanny.
"A lot of people think we have to be part of something, like some big community outreach thing. If you are, that's great, that's fine. But if you don't have the time for that and you just have the time to just make a meal and go give it to somebody down the street, that's good enough!" says Deloris.
So for giving their time and money out of their own pockets to help the homeless, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Meilanny Haney and Deloris Vaughn of El Sobrante.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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