GRANDVILLE, Mich. — For about a month now a Grandville nonprofit has been working to provide weekly sack lunches to the unhoused community in downtown Grand Rapids.
Be A Ruby was founded three years ago by the Rissley family to honor their late daughter.
On Feb. 27, 2021, their 7-year-old Ruby passed away from her injuries after being hit by a car on the way home from school on Feb. 25.
The family said the nonprofit was started to do the work Ruby did her whole life, being kind to everyone and putting love into everything she did.
Be A Ruby now operates under a mission of providing healthy food and essential basic needs to the unhoused communities in Kent and Ottawa Counties regularly.
For the past three years, once a month Be A Ruby will head out to Cherry and Division to serve food and also provide clothing and hygiene items for those who need it.
Wanting to do more, the nonprofit has also given people gift cards for hotel stays, adopted families for Christmas and now provides weekly sack lunches in downtown Grand Rapids.
"Once we get down to the park, they see our car pull up. They know us. They see the table come out and everyone starts lining up and we're done in like 20 minutes. We hand out 150 bags, water, fruit, all of that in like 20 minutes," said Stephanie Wahl, the leader of the Feed Our Neighbors Committee within Be A Ruby.
She said one of the reasons she loves the sack lunch events is because they do much more than just feed the community.
"We're fostering relationships with people that are unhoused, or those in need. And there's a familiarity. They feel comfortable with us and talking with us," Wahl said. "...I think feeding people is not just the physical nourishment, right? So we have the spiritual and, you know, all of that too."
To volunteer with or donate to Be A Ruby, click here.
More information about upcoming events can be found here.