JMU student helps the homeless by making 'blessing bags'

Ashlee Youngblood is a senior at JMU. After a trip to DC, She discovered the unfortunate reality of the homeless population there. Ashlee came across a homeless camp where “a ton of people were in tents” and “trash was overflowing.” While in quarantine, Ashlee wanted to give back to people in need. This memory is what gave her the idea to create blessing bags. She said that a blessing bag is “a ton of...necessities inside a bag that’s reusable.” Some of the items included in the blessing bags were socks, toothbrushes and toothpaste, food, and feminine hygiene products. She said that CO-VID19 made the lives of the homeless population harder. They already did not have access to necessities, but the virus that has plagued our world made that even more difficult. Ashlee said that many homeless shelters were reaching capacity due to COVID-19 guidelines. Youngblood’s project gained traction through social media, and many people donated online to help her reach her fundraising goal. This experience really opened her eyes to the less fortunate people in her community. She said she gained a new perspective in seeing these people’s living situations. She hopes to continue her mission in Harrisonburg and she plans on handing out her blessing bags in the next couple of weeks.

[lisadavis]

Its truly a blessing to help our community and to give back, I'm so proud of you keep giving because I feed 150 homeless people daily and make blessing bags for them as well. They are human just like we are and they need hygiene items and food to survive, I'ma keep praying that you will never give up on your organization that you started. Because God said in the bible its more bless to give than receive. Everyone on this video I love you all have a beautiful bless day.