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WOODBRIDGE, N.J. — A New Jersey woman has set out to feed 30,000 underprivileged people before she turns 30. A lofty goal to be sure, but one that becomes much more attainable when one owns a good pair of scissors.
Twenty-nine-year-old Lauren Puryear has a little under a year before she celebrates her 30th birthday. While many people dread the milestone, Puryear feels a sense of urgency.
“It’s probably the most exhilarating thing I could ever do in life,” she told NJ.com.
Ever since her grandmother died four years ago, Puryear has devoted her life to feeding the hungry. While many of her peers were adding travel, food and thrill-seeking items to their bucket lists, Puryear had a different goal in mind — one that ultimately led her to couponing.
“I started couponing for food items like spaghetti, meatballs,” she said. “I was often able to get the items for free or for little to no money.”
With the help of those discounts, Puryear estimated she could feed 150 people with just $20, NJ.com reported. But the monetary savings require an impressive investment of her time.
“I can spend anywhere from five to 10 hours a week,” Puryear told ABC News. “Some stores have limits on how much you can buy, so sometimes I have to get my friends to come with me to buy it and bring their cars so we can transport it.”
Puryear has assembled an army of couponers to aid her in her quest — her friends and family check the weekly ads, help her purchase the food and drop it off at a storage unit where she keeps all the goods, ABC News reported.
The single mother has already delivered more than 5,500 meals to people in need and plans to keep at it until she reaches her goal.
“The little things we take for granted, the food we throw away every day ... if we just spread a little more love around, the world would be such a better place,” Puryear told NJ.com. Puryear distributes the food through her foundation For the Love of Others. So far, she’s served homeless populations in New Jersey, Virginia and the Washington, D.C., area.
“Just knowing that we’re making a difference in someone’s life, that’s the most rewarding thing,” she told ABC.
