CINCINNATI — It started as a social media trend — a challenge: Feed one person for every 1,000 followers.
“It surprised us how viral it has gone,” said Reece Schmidt.
Reece is a 2022 Moeller High School graduate who now lives in the Dayton area. He was a defensive lineman on Moeller’s football team for three seasons.
“We’ve always done content and created videos,” said Reece’s cousin, Dale Adams. “And we’ve always wanted to show off our community as well.”
The two cousins saw an opportunity to do both: Create content and benefit the community at the same time.
Reece and Dale created a brand new Instagram profile, with the handle: @reeceanddale.
“Help anybody, any chance you get.”
— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) February 2, 2024
📲 HOW IT STARTED:
- Instagram trend
- Account went viral
🍞 HOW IT’S GOING:
- 2 young men on a mission to feed the homeless
🎥 STORY: How an IG challenge went viral & became a passion for one Moeller grad @WCPO pic.twitter.com/vvyhfvDurS
In their first post on the new page — a video reel — they promised to feed one person experiencing homelessness for every 1,000 followers the new page received.
Three days later, the page still had just 300 followers.
“The day kept progressing,” recalled Schmidt. “An hour later, we were at 1,000 … Three hours later, we were at 10,000.”
That’s when reality set it. It worked — but now it was time to live up to the promise they'd made.
“Every day, we’re calling the shelters, and it’s an all-day thing.” said Schmidt.
As promised, the cousins have spent the last four days handing out food to those in need.
At the time of this writing, their Instagram page has 231,000 followers.
They’ve documented nearly every step along the way.
“It does something when you document it and share it online,” said Adams. “You’re able to build a community of people that share the same passion as you.”
Reece and Dale spent Thursday night at a homeless shelter in Xenia, called Schneider House of Hope (Family Promise of Greene County).
Two employees at the shelter, Brittany Norton and Feather Birdsong, experienced homelessness themselves, as young adults.
“It’s humbling to be here, considering the fact that I’ve lived through it,” said Norton.
They understand all too well the harsh reality of experiencing homelessness.
“I was scared and embarrassed,” said Birdsong. “When you’re homeless, one thing you don’t want to ask for, is help.”
They also understand the value of even one helping hand.
“Come spend time,” said Norton. “If you just spend a day with our families, you’ll realize they don’t want money. They just want to feel comfortable while they’re here, at this stop in their journey.”
Reece and Dale are working — one follower at a time — to make sure each family experiencing homelessness feels a little more of that comfort.
“Help anybody, any chance you get," said Schmidt. "It doesn’t have to be a lot of money; just anything you can do. Anything you have to help others can go a long way."
