Humble Beginnings

For over twenty-five years, Jake has walked the streets of impoverished and destitute urban areas offering food, daily necessities, and human companionship for his homeless brothers and sisters while also being present with them on their spiritual journeys.  This sacred calling began on the Canadian Thanksgiving of 1998 in Ottawa, Canada.  (Click on the link to the right to listen to the jazz and poetry collaboration that he did with the late great jazz pianist, Eddie Higgins, about this transformative experience).

After that time in Canada, Jake moved to South Florida and worked for caterers and restaurants in Miami, where he packaged the leftovers from the events he worked and handed them out on the streets and in public parks.  This practice continued while Jake worked at various restaurants in San Francisco, as he would take the leftovers and distribute them to people living rough in the streets and Golden Gate Park. In addition, on his nights off, Jake would buy sacks of cheeseburgers and walk through areas of the city populated by homeless people, like The Tenderloin, and hand them out while getting to know some of these persons. Later, he served the homeless populations of various locales in Florida by handing out food, cold drinks, t-shirts, and socks in its downtown streets and parks. All of these interactions with marginalized peoples, and many others while doing service work throughout the world, have taught Jake valuable lessons and transformed his life.

Care Bags, Comfort Food, and Hope

When Jake met his wife, Jess, this practice of feeding and creating community with homeless people evolved into also providing Care Bags packed with vital foodstuffs and daily essentials, while during the winter months they also hand out thick socks, wool gloves, and warm hats.

Jake and Jess have cultivated deep relationships with their homeless brothers and sisters in various locations. Yet, there are also those whom they hand a Care Bag and a sandwich to and may never meet again.  This is what the work is, meeting people wherever they are out on the streets, and offering them a Care Bag, a nourishing meal, warm clothing items, human companionship, and God’s unbounded love.

We Made “Feed The Way” Official to Give More

On January 1, 2020, after two decades of doing “Feed The Way” at the D.I.Y. grassroots level, Jake decided that he wanted to make this work more official in order to expand its reach and solicit donations from the public.  Thus, he applied to the IRS, and after much time and expense, “Feed The Way" became an official 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt non-profit charitable organization.  This means that donations to "Feed The Way" are tax deductible

Our Calling

The specific niche of “Feed The Way” is in finding their homeless brothers and sisters who have either slipped through the cracks or who have been abandoned by society. “Feed The Way” walks the streets and back alleys to find homeless persons where they are. This takes time, effort, and awareness.

“Feed The Way” greets people on the street with love in their hearts and a Care Bag and sandwich in their hands. Jake and Jess also create maps that show them where homeless people tend to be and what their names are. This way “Feed The Way” can hopefully find people again and greet them by name when they do. This kind of personal attention creates community and trust, which are very important to build when doing this kind of work.

“Feed The Way” will also buy individual homeless people shoes, sneakers, jackets, and whatever clothes or daily necessities that they need.  This is not something that they do every once in a blue moon. It is a calling that travels with Jake and Jess wherever they go. In fact, the trunk of their car is usually loaded with Care Bags and warm clothing items. Most importantly, “Feed The Way” always lets their homeless brothers and sisters know that they are seen, have value, and are loved.

Called to Serve Beyond the Front Lines by The Beloved During a Pandemic

“Feed The Way” rose to the challenge and served their homeless brothers and sisters on the devastated streets of Seattle during the height of the Covid pandemic when almost all of the governmental, social activist, and religious organizations had shut down. “Feed The Way” provided food, daily necessities, basic medical supplies, warm clothes, and pastoral care to thousands of homeless people left out on the streets, as the homeless population in Seattle swelled to enormous proportions during that emergency time.

Through the grace and inspiration of The Beloved, and the help of their donors, “Feed The Way” made and handed out over 10,000 Care Bags and sandwiches while procuring and delivering hundreds of pairs of wool gloves, winter hats, and warm socks to their homeless brothers and sisters. “Feed The Way” also provided pastoral care in the streets, alleys, abandoned buildings, and parks where homeless persons were living. In total, Jake and Jess worked over 4,000 volunteer hours doing “Feed The Way” during the Covid pandemic in Seattle.

Your Help

“Feed The Way” asks you to give what you can with a loving heart and a trusting spirit.  Each Care Bag costs about five to eight dollars to create depending on what size bag it is (quart or gallon) and what items are put into it (see our “Feed The Way” video below).

A Care Bag can include any combination of the following items:

Sandwiches, croissants, protein bars, granola bars, oatmeal packets, bottled water, organic fruit juice, vitamin C drops, multivitamin packets, mints, raisins, apple sauce, tuna fish, chicken salad, string cheese, peanut butter crackers, beef/turkey jerky, oranges, apples, bananas, cleansing wipes, tissues, toothpaste, toothbrush, band aids, and a pair of socks. It will also include a personal note or card stating that God always sees them and loves them, and, so do we.

“Feed The Way” has given away up to 150 Care Bags and 150 Sandwiches in a day. We need your donations to keep providing these vital means for our homeless brothers and sisters.

*All profits from Jake’s Sacred Wisdom and Spiritual Formation work go towards attending and accompanying our homeless brothers and sisters through his charitable organization, “Feed The Way”. Participating in sacred work is a gift of The Beloved; thus, Jake donates any profits that he receives from it.

**If you are a business that is interested in donating resources or foodstuffs, please email us at feedtheway@use.startmail.com.