HOW TO DONATE
To find out how to donate clothes, toiletries or money to Broken Bus Ministry, call 513-678-7304 or write to thebrokenbusministry@yahoo.com.
"Like" the ministry's Facebook page here.
Clothing donations should be new or gently used, seasonal, casual and geared toward adults.
A recently formed Butler County ministry takes to the road each week to help provide food, clothing and toiletries for Cincinnati’s homeless.
Based out of Liberty Twp., Broken Bus Ministry is the work of Greg and Michele Bailes, who were inspired to organize their own effort after participating in weekly trips the Vineyard Church made in 2011 to distribute sandwiches in Cincinnati’s Over-The-Rhine neighborhood.
With the help of their daughter Jordan and their son Justin, the couple launched an effort of their own in 2012, serving pizza, chicken or other food from the back of their own vehicle. But Michele Bailes noticed there was a need in addition to food.
“There are shelters down there that feed, but people need coats and shoes and blankets,” she said.
Realizing that the needs of those who live on the streets were larger than they could provide out of their personal vehicle, the family started looking for a larger vehicle that could be used as a mobile service unit.
The goal? Drive around and find the homeless where they are and come stocked with anything they would need, from socks, shoes and coats to sweatshirts, toiletries and sandals. Broken Bus also serves up hot meals and distributes snacks and beverages.
But the ministry also wanted to ensure that others had the opportunity to serve as well. So it purchased a small, abandoned white bus and had Joe Pate, a Hamilton metal fabricator, remove a wheelchair lift and some seating and install shelving and storage units to better organize clothing and other supplies.
“We pull up to an individual and we ask them what they need, and then we’re able to turn and find size 38 pants, socks, toiletries,” she said. “We can customize their specific needs, and we just fill the bus with whatever donations we get and hope that we have the right size.”
For example, when there’s a size-9 shoe needed but not in stock, volunteers write it down, then Broken Bus delivers it the following week.
The mobile ministry, which also serves Middletown and Hamilton, helps anywhere from 30 to 70 people in the course of each three-hour weekly Cincinnati trip.
Besides 10 to 15 hours a week of sorting, part of the ministry’s mission is to get out to area churches and schools for guest appearances to help raise awareness and garner donations.
Some of those Bailes visits ask about why Broken Bus didn’t go with a name that implied the caring nature of its mission.
“When we found the vehicle and we saw how broken it was … I looked at it and thought, ‘That is a mess,’ and then I walked inside and thought, ‘But the inside of it is what’s important,’” Bailes said. “We all have our outside scars. We might not like the way we look, we might be a little broken, but what’s important is what’s inside.”
The vehicle’s dents, dings and drooping bumper are all part of the ministry’s message and don’t need to be fixed, she said.
“We don’t want to change its appearance because I tell the school children I talk to, ‘What’s important is not what’s out here,’” Bailes said.
Broken Bus Ministry, which relies solely on donations, is in the process of becoming a non-profit charity with the assistance of Shiver Security Services, which donated its lawyers to help the organization.
Monetary donations help provide food and drinks for the homeless on a weekly basis.
Each week, the ministry is able to bring along up to five extra people to join in the good deed.
Bill Dowers of Deerfield Twp., who volunteered March 15, said it was “a great experience” and one in which he felt safe the entire time. He said he would love to be involved in a return trip.
“What I really realized was these are people who are just down on their luck a little bit, and it really could happen to anyone,” he said. “It made me appreciate the things in life that I have.”
About the Author
