Mom Gives Homeless Refugees Formula
The Reason This Mom Gave a Family of Refugees Formula Will Keep You Awake at Night
Leslie Gaar, a mother of three from Austin, TX, was leaving yoga class one Sunday morning when she saw a homeless man with four small children younger than 8 years old, and a woman holding a baby carrier trailing behind him. She noticed he was holding a sign that read "Need help, diapers, formula, food" and became emotional. In a now-viral Facebook post, Leslie described that rather than walking by the helpless family, she decided to do something about it:
All I had was a couple of diapers and some wipes. I figured it was better than nothing.
I walked over to the dad, handing him the few items. I asked him in Spanish if he spoke any English, noticing after I spoke that they didn't seem to be Hispanic. He said that he spoke some English, but that he knew more Spanish. I asked him where they were from, and he answered "Romania, in Europe. Refugees."
Leslie then learned that the family of six had been moving from shelter to shelter but left because they were separated during their stay and the amount of drugs and alcohol present. After hearing their reasons for leaving, the mom began racking her brain to figure out ways to help the struggling family:
I kept patting my pockets as if I would find a key to a house or a set of green cards. A blank check I didn't realize I had. I knew I didn't have any cash because I never carry any. "Can I buy you all something to eat? Are you hungry?" I immediately felt stupid for asking. He said yes and I told him I would get something and be back soon. "If they tell me I can't be here, we will be there when you get back," he said in broken Spanish, pointing to an old white van next to us.
Fortunately for the refugees, Leslie was well-connected. She called her sister-in-law, a lawyer who had experience helping people in their situation and got the number of an emergency shelter for immigrants. From there, Leslie focused on gathering supplies like granola bars, tampons, and even some coloring and sticker books for the children.
After rushing home to enlist some much-needed help from her family, including her son, who immediately donated all the money he received from the tooth fairy to the cause, they loaded up the car with even more loot from around their house — we're talking muffins, leftover stew, and travel-size shampoo — before Leslie headed back to meet the family in need.
Thankfully, Leslie found them right where she left them and started to unload the car. She began chatting with the father again to see if they needed formula for the babies before heading to the store to pick it up. Leslie returned with two canisters of formula 20 minutes later to see all the kiddos dutifully playing with their sticker books. After handing him the formula, some water, and a little over $20 in cash, she left to reflect on the events of the day:
The fact that most of the things we gave to this family were things that we won't even miss.
The fact that one person's extras are another person's everything. The fact that their oldest child was the same age as my oldest children. The fact that, given our current political climate, this was probably the worst time for this family to have come here. It was all still swirling around my head as I watched the sun set this evening, wondering if the family had found a place to stay by then. I imagine I'll wonder about them for a very long time.
