ST PAUL, Minn. — Shay Webbie stands in front of her St. Paul home with bags of supplies stuffed inside ziplock bags, then sorted into a bin to be carried away.
“So I had to something so my community is fed, so we’re not going to desperate methods,” says Shay Webbie.
Shay first started her organization “ShayCares” last year. For the last two and a half months, Shay along with friends, and a team of volunteers have been hitting the streets with supplies, feeding the homeless in her St. Paul community.
“Tonight, ShayCares will be at the Mounds Park Boulevard encampment,” she says. “It’s grown; there’s 40-50 people living at this encampment,” she says.
Handing out care bags filled with personal care items and essentials. “Clean underwear, socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, wipes, lotions, razors,” she says.
Shay says her inspiration to give back to those without a roof over their head or a place to sleep at night is her mother.
“My mom has always lived a struggle life,” she says. “One of the people who lived off (Interstate) 94 and Lexington for quite some time, and seeing her there and that I couldn’t get her in sometime, it just hit home,” she says.
Now, Shay is paying it forward with notes of support tucked into each bag.
“Now that she is stable and I’m blessed to have that, I want to make sure that others aren’t’ going through what she went through,” she says.
So, the people in the same homeless encampments where her mother once lived will know there are people out there who care.
Shay and her team of volunteers will be out every week handing out care packages.
If you would like to donate your time, cash or supplies – visit the ShayCare Facebook page here.