In our sister city of Moscow, Russia, a local charity is giving its homeless population something unusual … movie nights!

Red Square, Moscow, Russia, photo by Adam Baker via Wikimedia Commons

The Russian capital has over 6,000 homeless people on its 2010 census, but experts say that figure is actually probably 10 times larger. Andrei Besshtanko, deputy head of Moscow’s Department of Social Security, says there are now tens of thousands of homeless people in Moscow, and that only counts people who use Moscow’s official services, which are often impossible to get without an official I.D. and a place of residence.

In an effort to provide a more “mainstream experience” to the homeless, Moscow charity Friends on the Streets provided free hot meals and tea, along with a pre-film discussion of the problems facing people on the streets, at their first film. The movie was set up in a makeshift tent next to an emergency assistance center for the homeless, and the charity plans on providing more films throughout the summer.

photo by waferboard via Flickr.com

“We do our best to treat the homeless as friends, not as objects to be fed and washed,” said project coordinator Natalya Markova in an interview with The Guardian. “Their lives are hard enough as they are, and with projects like this, we try to cheer them up.”

First up was a classic Russian slapstick film, which participants chose themselves. There were about 100 people of all ages in attendance. “They probably often watched such films during [their] carefree youth or childhoods, when everything was okay,” said Markova. Filmgoers will also choose subsequent movie choices.

“For most people, there’s nothing special about going to a movie,” said Besshtanko. “But for those who have spent a year on the streets, it helps them to remember that they’re human.”

Have you heard of the concept of Pay It Forward, or maybe Random Acts of Kindness (RAOKs)? Simply put, they are a gesture of love for strangers. Rosa’s Fresh Pizza in Philadelphia is making the concept easy.

pizza pies via rosasfreshpizza.com

If you’re hungry in the city of brotherly love, whose poverty rates are some of the worst in our nation, you can grab a slice of pizza from Rosa’s Fresh Pizza, because someone else has already purchased it for you. Owner Mason Wartman says it all started with a customer who was inspired by an Italian coffee-house tradition called caffè sospeso (suspended coffee) that began more than 100 years ago, where customers pre-purchase cups of coffee for less fortunate customers who come after them. Wartman wrote his extra purchase on a Post-it note and stuck it on the wall behind the register to be redeemed by the next homeless patron to enter the store. Word spread, and more and more people began to participate, until the wall behind the register blossomed with Post-it notes, each signifying one person’s act of kindness.

post its via rosasfreshpizza.com

Wartman kept track of the pre-purchased slices with Post-its until he reached about 500, when the sheer volume forced him to select another method of accounting. But the wall of encouraging messages continues to build. Rosa’s has provided almost 10,000 slices of pizza to Philadelphia’s hungry, and 10% of their business is now represented by pre-purchased slices. Wartman says some customers who were helped by this generosity and have since found employment have returned to the shop to pay it forward for others in similar situations.

post its and patrons via rosasfreshpizza.com

If you’d like to donate a slice from afar, you can at RosasFreshPizza.com. Or investigate the possibility of donating at your own local pizza joint. Together, we can feed the world, one slice at a time.