Vending machine gives basics to homeless

Device launches in U.K.; U.S. cities will soon have access.

It all goes back to the countless hours Huzaifah Khaled spent on trains and in train stations, shuttling back and forth between his home in Nottingham, England, and classes at the University of Cambridge, some 90 miles away.

“In the U.K., train stations are almost magnets for homeless people,” Khaled said.

He talked with them, bought them coffee, and over time, developed relationships with them.

“I essentially developed a very deep understanding of their needs,” said Khaled, who recently got his Ph.D. in law. It hit him that, for the homeless, even basic necessities are hard to access, and the limited hours for drop-in services at day shelters meant people had to schedule their days around visits to the shelter.

That’s how he hit on the idea of a vending machine for the homeless: a 24/7 pit stop where people can access free food and other basics.

The first vending machine launched this month in a shopping center in Nottingham, stocked full of supplies like water, fresh fruit, energy bars and sandwiches, as well as socks, toothpaste, toothbrushes and even books. The machine was installed by Action Hunger, a charity directed by Khaled.

The initiative has been close to two years in the making. Back in early 2016, he had toyed with the idea of installing stocked fridges in cities across the U.K. But fridges posed challenges for keeping track of supplies, so he switched gears and focused his attention on vending machines instead. He devoted weekends and evenings to the project, all the while working toward his PhD.

“I speculatively approached over 50 manufacturers across England and Europe - most ignored my proposal, a few politely declined, and just before I was about to give up and try to raise funds to buy a machine instead, [N&W Global Vending] responded to my letter and invited me to pitch the idea to them,” he said. “They came on board almost immediately afterwards.”

N&W Global Vending, one of the world’s largest vending companies, gave Khaled a 10,000-pound, or about $13,000, machine for free. Meanwhile, Khaled reached out to the Friary, a day center serving the homeless in the Nottingham area.

A day center called the Friary gives out keycards to its patrons, which permit up to three items per day.

A machine will be installed in New York City in February, followed by San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles.