It breaks the heart of single mother Lauren Puryear every time she sees homeless people suffer. One day, she approached a large group of homeless people in her town and asked them what they needed.
All of them had one answer: food. Puryear, 29, started giving them food during Thanksgiving. She wanted to do more, but limited resources kept her from feeding all of the hungry homeless people living in a "tent city" in town.
As luck would have it, Puryear discovered the saving technique of couponing. Through it, she was able to purchase 425 cans of vegetables at only four cents each, according to the Gospel Herald.
"I paid $1.70 for all of them. They were stacked up in my apartment floor to ceiling," she told AJC.
Puryear gladly distributed the cans to the people, and even prepared them a hot meal of baked chicken and vegetable. She was able to feed 300 individuals.
The single mother could still recall the moments when people would come to her to say thanks. One person she could not forget was a veteran in his late forties who was battling post-traumatic stress disorder. He told her, "Thank you so much, this is the first meal I've had in three days."
After this, Puryear strove to feed even more hungry individuals, all the while remaining debt-free. Puryear received some donations for her feeding drive, but it is truly couponing that helps her buy food at a discount.
"Couponing knocks the price down tremendously," she said. "I coupon so that I don't have to spend my salary as a single mom."
Through it, Puryear was able to give away 1,200 hotdogs, which she bought at $1 per pack. For each pack she bought, Puryear even got a credit of 10 cents, which she then used to buy buns and condiments.
When her birthday came, Puryear celebrated by feeding 1,000 people. She considers the experience "the most awesome feeling next to childbirth."
As amazing as Puryear's acts might be, she knows there's still a long way to go before hunger can really be put to an end. Her next target is to distribute "good hearty meals" to 1,500 people, and she plans to do it through her foundation called For the Love of Others, which "seeks to empower, enrich and enhance the lives of people from all backgrounds through providing opportunities to enable them to live a purposeful life."
Puryear shares that the name is inspired by the Bible passage John 13:34-35. By her 30th birthday next year, Puryear even dreams of feeding 30,000 people.
