Gimme Some Oven

Give A Granola Bar

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

These are the energy bars I usually buy from (yes, my favorite store) ALDI.

These are the energy bars I usually buy from (yes, my favorite store) ALDI. They’re tasty, and full of protein.

Somehow I have found myself in conversations with friends multiple times this past month about how to respond when someone on the street asks you for money. Now that I live downtown, and go for daily walks, and run most of my errands around the neighborhood, I find myself walking by or being approached by someone asking for money pretty much daily. And it can be confusing or awkward to know what the “right” thing to do is, right?

I’m always interested to hear about my friends’ experiences and advice on the topic. Most people I know always want to give and to “help”. But knowing what is actually “helping” can be tricky to navigate. (And I probably can’t and shouldn’t judge that anyway.)

As someone who pretty much never carries cash (sorry Dave Ramsey), I always used to feel a little frustrated and helpless when I found myself wanting to give to someone asking. But about a decade ago, a friend turned me onto a simple yet brilliant alternative — giving out granola bars.

Well, ten years later, they’re “energy” bars. ;)  But the idea is the same.

And it’s really simple.

Just toss a box or two of energy bars into your cart when you go grocery shopping. (I stock up on a few boxes each month.)  Then store them in the glove compartment or drivers’ side door of your car. (Ideally, I also try to keep at least one in my purse, but it’s kind of a bottomless hole and things get lost in there.)  Then whenever you drive by someone on the street who is asking for money, you can have an energy bar literally within reach and offer it to the person.

Here’s the thing. In ten years, I can probably count on one hand the number of people who have turned down an energy/granola bar. Instead, I often get a quizzical look when I first mention it, but then people almost always accept them gratefully. And then I can be grateful to know that they at least have a healthy snack they can turn to that day. (Although I must say that the chocolate-coated energy bars are by far the most popular.)  ;)

Granted, if I have some cash on me, I usually try to give some of that too if someone asks. And at absolute minimum, I hope to always at least take the time to look the person in the eye and give a kind hello. But I’m telling ya — there’s something to be said for granola bars too. Plus, they are small and easy to store, they are relatively inexpensive, and they are packaged and can last for months.

Now trust me, I know that there is a much larger conversation behind this topic about hunger and homelessness in our country, which is another topic for another day. And I’m all for giving hopefully financially hopefully far beyond the cost of energy bars to organizations, and churches, and people, and any other places that help get to the root causes of hunger and poverty. The more we can give — especially social justice-minded “gifts” this holiday season — the better.

But, if any of you are looking for ways to respond and give to the people you may cross paths with on a daily basis, I just wanted to pass along this idea that my friend once passed along to me.

(And if you happen to pick up a box of granola bars to give out, I would totally love to hear how it goes!)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

4 comments on “Give A Granola Bar”

  1. A very good, thoughtful idea. And those granola bars look so good, I’ll share the pack.

  2. love this idea! we made homeless kits with our community group last year and it was such a joy to give those out from our cars when the need arose. Love that granola bars are even easier!

  3. I love it. The other night we saw a woman walking with a cart…it was so cold. I had no cash – like you said, I rarely carry it – and we were driving out of a parking lot which made it very difficult to stop without causing a major backup. All I could think was “I wish I had a sandwich for her, but that would be impossible because where would I pull a sandwich?” A granola bar could have solved the problem. Thanks!

  4. That’s actually really interesting to hear. It seems like most of the stories I hear about people who hand out food, gloves, etc., to homeless people involve the gifts being thrown back in the giver’s face — literally and figuratively.