If you want to make an immediate positive impact on the lives of less fortunate people, the JPS Care Connections team would like to suggest an easy way for you to make a difference.
Joel Hunt, director of the program serving more than 670 homeless people in the Fort Worth area, said Care Connections is in desperate need of vital supplies. He’s calling on area residents to donate the necessities which, he said, the JPS Foundation will make sure get where they’re needed.
“We could use a lot of things,” Hunt said. “What we especially need right now, though, is bug spray. We’ll take anything. But what seem to work best for people are the good old-fashioned aerosol spray cans. Each one of the nearly 700 people we serve could easily go through one can of bug spray a week.”
When asked how many cans of insect spray Care Connections could use, Hunt started to do the math in his head. But then he stopped and said, “I want to challenge the people of Fort Worth to try to give us too much. I don’t think that’s possible.”
In addition to the fact that bug bites can be physically torturous, causing people on the receiving end constant pain and itchiness, they can also be emotionally taxing on people who are forced to live outdoors 24 hours a day, according to Hunt.
“The mental toll of being pestered by bugs all the time can be devastating,” said Hunt. “Plus, beyond the normal nuisance of insects, we’re starting to see things like the Zika virus, Lyme disease and West Nile, which are certainly a health risk.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wearing insect protection is more important than ever because of the dangerous mosquito-borne diseases making their way to the United States in recent years.
In addition to the need for bug spray, Hunt said Care Connections could always use as much bottled water as it can get to distribute to homeless people trying to survive scorching hot Texas summers. Sun screen is also in short supply and is very handy to people who are constantly exposed to the weather. But, Hunt said, if donors are trying to decide between buying bug spray or sun screen, he’d prefer to have the bug spray. As valuable as it can be in protecting them, many people simply refuse to wear sun block, he said.
Care Connections provides healthcare on the streets of Fort Worth with a team of medical personnel who comb the area in search of homeless people in need of medical care they can’t afford or travel to.
If you’d like to make a donation of insect repellant, sun screen, water or anything else, please bring the items to the JPS Foundation office at 1223 S. Main St. If you have questions, please contact the JPS Foundation at 817-702-7310.