Helping those less fortunate.

Friday night I headed out with the Minister (Ric) from Robbie's Church to hunt down some of the Homeless people who call Launceston home.

When I say "hunt down" I don't mean literally. Armed with flashlights and backpacks each containing a Thermos, some food and blankets, we hit the streets just before midnight to offer some support to those less fortunate.

We decided to check out the old Hospital building. This building has been unused for years and is due to be turned into a high rise apartment building.

For legal reasons we were not allowed to enter the building itself, but instead checked out the surrounding area.

Unfortunately we found no one at "home", but we did find plenty of evidence that many people do in fact "live" here. Mattresses, blankets, alcohol bottles (empty) syringes and other bits and pieces all pointed to the fact someone has slept here.

I have no doubt that people were in the building whilst we were hanging around. If I put myself in their shoes I wouldn't exactly be coming out to say hi to some complete strangers wandering around in the rain after midnight with flashlights either. Next week we will leave flyer's around so that they know we are only there to help and that they have nothing to fear.

Getting to bed at 2am didn't exactly make the best preparation for the race I ran yesterday. Lets just say I crashed and burned. 8km in just under 30 minutes was a long way from what I was expecting. Still, it was all for a good cause and yes, I would do it again. Maybe not before a race but will definitely go out again soon. At least I get to sleep in a warm bed each night.