Homeless People

[rckllnknny]

??

[Madtown Sem.]

A friend of mine in Denver does it the best that I've seen. He has a bunch of $5 McDonald's gift cards in his car. Then you know they are using it on what they really need.

[Alycin]

Yep, I never give people money, because if you give them cash and they are battling a drug or alcohol problem, it will be wasted. Give them food, blankets, things like that...

[Galloglasses]

I am a sucker for charity.

If I walk past a poor immigrent woman in the streets or a musician playing away for some money, I would feel really guilty if I didn't give them SOMETHING. The guilt remains even when I have no money on me to give at the time.

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='Galloglasses' post='1559757' date='Jun 5 2008, 07:00 PM']I am a sucker for charity.

If I walk past a poor immigrent woman in the streets or a musician playing away for some money, I would feel really guilty if I didn't give them SOMETHING. The guilt remains even when I have no money on me to give at the time.[/quote]
I'm the same way sometimes, though I usually don't have cash with me. I'm much more likely to offer to get food if someone's pan-handling, though, and to say a prayer.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Madtown Sem.' post='1559684' date='Jun 5 2008, 01:11 PM']A friend of mine in Denver does it the best that I've seen. He has a bunch of $5 McDonald's gift cards in his car. Then you know they are using it on what they really need.[/quote]
Ooh...that's a good idea. I have issues giving them money, but that would work...unless of course they end up using them as a sort of underground currency for less savory things...

[Madtown Sem.]

in an effort to make this topic a little less serious... one of the best cardboard signs I've ever seen went as follows:

"My wife ran away with my best friend....

need money for a thank you card."

and another just for fun.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Madtown Sem.' post='1559778' date='Jun 5 2008, 02:18 PM']in an effort to make this topic a little less serious... one of the best cardboard signs I've ever seen went as follows:

"My wife ran away with my best friend....

need money for a thank you card."

and another just for fun.[/quote]

[homeschoolmom]

[Jesus_lol]

i tend to give money to the ones with instruments. for one thing, its more likely they are just down on their luck, and not addicted to herion, etc. or else they would have pawned the instrument long ago.

[IrishSalesian]

i heard from a priest friend of mine that a full time pan handler can make alot of money. On the radio once i heard of a lady who made over $100,000 in Toronto.

[CatherineM]

I have slips of paper that list where they can get help, with times that free meals are provided. It's hard not to give them money, especially when it is -20 degrees outside. If I don't have my slips with me, I tell them I give my money to the Bissel and Marian Centre (local homeless shelters), and they should go there and get help.

We are having increasing trouble with aggressive panhandlers here, and they have been looking at laws in other places that have helped, including in the US. There was a report out of San Francisco that giving them money is what makes them aggressive in the first place. When we give them money, they start thinking they are entitled to receive it, and then when someone doesn't give them what they feel they are entitled to, they get angry. It's kind of like feeding alligators. When you feel guilty not giving them something, just remember that they might use it for drugs, alcohol, sex, or it just might get aggressive with the next person they see who doesn't give them anything.

You can support the poor and homeless by donating your time and money to charities that take care of them. On the street give them anything but money. We have homeless that live in our alley during the summer months. I buy sacks of buns or bunches of bananas to give out as I run the gauntlet on the way home from church. I also tell them my husband doesn't let me carry cash in this neighborhood, so that they won't be inclined to try to mug me. I hate (don't hate, appreciate) to have to hurt one of them.

[Galloglasses]

I remember a news report of one panhandler, (Who had a house), went around the City of Belfast and made a couple thousand a week. Reflects well on the generosity, and badly on the naivity of the people themselves, and how bloody smart the guy was XD

[prose]

On Whyte ave (One of our main streets), there are things that look like parking meters that you can put change in to help the homeless. The money goes to shelters and stuff.

Personally, if I have money I give it. It is not my business what they spend it on once it is gone. I think it is rude to give money to people and then expect to know where it goes. If you give money, you are leaving it to their discretion. It isn't your money anymore at that point.

In any case, I give money and food. Depends on what I have or what I am asked for. I am more likely to give money to someone working for it (musically or selling "Spare Change" newspapers - a newspaper for homeless people to sell)

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='rckllnknny' post='1559677' date='Jun 5 2008, 02:06 PM']??[/quote]

Yes.

[Autumn Dusk]

cheap granola bars are good to give out, too, and they're lightweight and portible

[kujo]

My roommate's study partnet told a story the other day that involved him buying food for a homeless person and spitting and peeing in it before giving it to him. I let loose on the kid and had to be physically restrained when he said "Dude, they're homeless. They're just a bunch of <cuss word> bums...they don't even count as humans."

[picchick]

I always feel bad when I do not give spare change out to homeless people.

However, I help them in other ways. I give to local shelters. I pray for them. I work very hard for the money I get. I don't spend it carelessly because I don't have money to spend carelessly. Just as I do not know know those people's situations, they do not know mine. There have been times that those people who are asking for money have judged me and assumed that I could give them something. I had nothing to give.

I do the best I can when I can.

[Autumn Dusk]

[quote]There have been times that those people who are asking for money have judged me and assumed that I could give them something. I had nothing to give[/quote]

I HA[i][/i]TE H[i][/i]ATE HAT[i][/i]E this.
I worked my way though college with two jobs and I was going to the bigger city near mine for a free concert at another college for class. I didn't have a car (my classmates didn't like me) and I literally scrounged for change for the bus...I literally looked at every inch of the laundry room, around as many vending machines as I could find and bummed a quarter off my roommate so I could get a day pass (cheaper than bus-by-bus). When I went on one I was the only one on there...a guy was 50cents short and asked me for money. I didn't have any. The bus driver and him cursed at me for being a selfish, bratty private school diva. I literally had not a cent to my name (I had my emergency bank card but...yeah...you get the idea).
I didn't even have money to get dinner...I brought an apple I nicked from the dining hall.

I agree that the lack of charity that those who want charity is sometimes deplorable.

Edited June 5, 2008 by Autumn Dusk

[Galloglasses]

[quote name='kujo' post='1559979' date='Jun 5 2008, 04:21 PM']My roommate's study partnet told a story the other day that involved him buying food for a homeless person and spitting and peeing in it before giving it to him. I let loose on the kid and had to be physically restrained when he said "Dude, they're homeless. They're just a bunch of <cuss word> bums...they don't even count as humans."[/quote]
Kujo gains respect from me for this. (Partly because its something I doubt I'd have the brass to do)