How Volunteering on Skid Row Changed Josh Peck’s Perspective

The warm glow of doing good might be a nice bonus, but for Josh Peck, helping others is part of his personal commitment to backing beliefs with action. He regularly volunteers with Feed the Streets in Los Angeles, and there’s also a chapter in New York City. 

The actor has strong opinions about people who are critics of unhoused people: “It’s fascinating when people have staunch opinions on things. I think it’s because they are not integrating with it enough. They feel like a community of people need to do this or these people don’t deserve rights. But then, if I ask them if they know anyone in that community, they say no.” 

It’s not Peck’s first time volunteering in downtown Los Angeles. In 2024, he also volunteered at the Los Angeles Mission over Easter, helping serve an Easter meal, hygiene kits, and other snacks for the unhoused in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. Other celebrities at the 2024 holiday volunteer event included Nick Cannon and Shenanigans host Scheana Shay.

Keep reading to learn about Peck’s experience volunteering on Skid Row on the latest The Good Guys and how it has shifted his perspective.

What is Feed the Streets? 

What started out as a group of friends giving out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on Skid Row has evolved into something much greater. Today, Feed the Streets has grown to a nonprofit with more than a hundred active volunteers, serving thousands of hours each year to help with meal distribution and community engagement. The food is provided by local restaurants, and volunteers even cook sometimes. 

Peck explains what a morning volunteering with Feed the Streets looks like: “You see everything. You see mental illness, people dealing with addiction, and people who are just chill, just getting by, and not that disturbed by their situation. It’s really interesting the spectrum of people.”

The best part for Peck is the interaction with people from all different walks of life: “Interacting with people who have fallen on hard times. We have our regulars. You are talking to these people, and it brings it to this incredible human level.”

What happens when Josh Peck volunteers at Feed the Streets

Peck recently shared about his volunteer efforts. Once a week, either Tuesday or Thursday morning, he volunteers with Feed the Streets in downtown L.A. They hand out water, coffee, donuts, and fruit. 

Of course, it would not be Peck without some humor. He recalls an unhoused friend at Feed the Streets saying, “‘We’re not greedy. We’re needy.’ But then, Peck says, “He proceeded to steal five granola bars. You have to save some for everyone.” 

As far as the name “soup kitchen,” Peck suggests a rebrand. “Maybe we should get specific with the type of soup. ‘A chowder kitchen. A bisque kitchen,” he says.

His co-host, Ben Soffer agrees. “When you come in, I’m not giving you the slop of the week. You get to pick from a beautiful board of options. You want a Tuscan white bean or a Mexican kitchen. This is the future of giving back,” he jokes.

On a serious note, Soffer believes better quality food options is important: “Just because you’re homeless doesn’t mean you can’t have dietary preferences. Giving homeless people options is a lovely idea, and it doesn’t happen enough,” he says.