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We don't have any visible homeless where I live now because my town is 85 square miles of sprawl. We have no central downtown area. People don't walk to anything and there are no buses or trains. Those who walk for exercise do it on the paved and unpaved park trails all around town. A panhandler would not make any money here simply because they wouldn't see enough people in a day to make it worth their while. The downtown area of the nearest city is 26 miles from me. They have plenty of homeless.
I give a large annual donation to the regional Salvation Army and have done so in other places I've lived. I think they do a better job.
I used to buy them food and feel like I'm some kind of a hero. Of course, I'm not stupid and I knew that money is fungible. If others give them cash (and they do) then they don't have to spend cash on food and have more cash to buy drugs (and make no mistake alcohol is also a drug). So they're not directly buying drugs with my cash... but indirectly they are.
So I'm thinking to stop and save my money or find more worthy causes to donate to.
What do you guys think?
Sorry.................... I thought you meant food made out of the homeless.
I used to buy them food and feel like I'm some kind of a hero. Of course, I'm not stupid and I knew that money is fungible. If others give them cash (and they do) then they don't have to spend cash on food and have more cash to buy drugs (and make no mistake alcohol is also a drug). So they're not directly buying drugs with my cash... but indirectly they are.
So I'm thinking to stop and save my money or find more worthy causes to donate to.
What do you guys think?
I believe in homeless shelters and food kitchens. I believe they should have to say a prayer in thanks before they eat and maybe listen to just a little of the word of God if they want to have something to eat. Nourishment for their soul as well. I've seen the transformation in people, it's really one of the coolest things you'll ever see in life. They may not turn into some material success story, but they often stop drinking and start helping others.
It was always a requirement in my house growing up to volunteer at the church functions, homeless shelters ect. We delivered produce from our farm to a few of them. I hated it when I was a teenager, now I get it.
It has to be people helping people out of kindness or it means nothing. Big government handing out welfare and foodstamps is borderline evil IMO. It corrupts people.
I just watched a documentary on heroin addicts in Boston and they interviewed a panhandler heroin addict there. He said he averages $150-$300 a day panhandling. WTF? That's more than many working people make! All these people giving to him are just enabling his addiction. This pisses me off. He's there pretending to be poor but he's making more than many working people and many of the people who give to him out of the kindness of their hearts! It's deception and a scam. And most of that money ends up with some heroin dealer a-hole who doesn't care about ruining people's lives. And down the line with some a-hole narco cartel big wig in Latin America who also doesn't care about ruining people's lives.
Few of the panhandlers I've seen are druggies or winos. I'll give panhandlers $2-$5 if they seem legit and aren't dicks. There was a guy stuck in our Walmart parking lot for months needing gas money because he ran out of gas- nothing from me. I also don't give to the kids travelling with a dog with a scarf. It's always a similar breed of dog and the only variation is a red or blue scarf.
Saw a similar scumbag asking for just a gallon of gas two days in a row. Both times I saw people fall for his scam and I had enough. Reported the scumbag to station staff and POOF! I'm still not sure if I should have reported him to police too or that'd be a little too much - he was SCAMMING people. What's interesting about the scam is that he actually had a car and he would pull up to the pump and pretend to fill up or something. Or maybe he did fill up and was selling off gas to someone. People were falling for it like flies! Who would NOT help a stranded average Joe?
I've come pretty much a 360 on how I felt about these people. I felt compassion. I thought they were actually hungry. Now I feel disgusted by their scamming. Many of them make much more per day running their scams then people who WORK! Sure they spend it all on drugs/alcohol - that's their problem and treatment options are there. But they are SCAMMING people to finance their habit. I was so naive. Now I feel like telling them how I feel but of course I don't want to get violent with them. I can probably barely hide the disgust on my face anyway.
I said this in a similar thread - if you want to give a homeless person money and it makes you feel good then go right ahead BUT never ever believe their line of bull**** about their "issue" - disabled Vietnam vet, who has a sick daughter, is hungry, out-of-gas, needing bus fare, just lost their job and will work for food...
I said this in a similar thread - if you want to give a homeless person money and it makes you feel good then go right ahead BUT never ever believe their line of bull**** about their "issue" - disabled Vietnam vet, who has a sick daughter, is hungry, out-of-gas, needing bus fare, just lost their job and will work for food...
You know what say what you want about Mexican illegals but I've NEVER seen one of them do this crap. I'm against illegal immigration but what's true is true. I've never seen an Asian person do this either and I've lived in SF which is Asian majority now. The only people I've seen do this are white and black. And I'm white BTW.
You know what say what you want about Mexican illegals but I've NEVER seen one of them do this crap. I'm against illegal immigration but what's true is true. I've never seen an Asian person do this either and I've lived in SF which is Asian majority now. The only people I've seen do this are white and black. And I'm white BTW.
I have multiple times, a Latin woman takes her kids and sits at the post office asking for handouts. I also have seen Asians do it as well. A few Asians dress up like kinks in San Francisco and scan tourists.
I personally believe that churches should be taking care of the homeless with the huge amount of money they take in, all churches should run soup kitchens for the homeless and needy.
Saw a similar scumbag asking for just a gallon of gas two days in a row. Both times I saw people fall for his scam and I had enough. Reported the scumbag to station staff and POOF! I'm still not sure if I should have reported him to police too or that'd be a little too much - he was SCAMMING people. What's interesting about the scam is that he actually had a car and he would pull up to the pump and pretend to fill up or something. Or maybe he did fill up and was selling off gas to someone. People were falling for it like flies! Who would NOT help a stranded average Joe?
I've come pretty much a 360 on how I felt about these people. I felt compassion. I thought they were actually hungry. Now I feel disgusted by their scamming. Many of them make much more per day running their scams then people who WORK! Sure they spend it all on drugs/alcohol - that's their problem and treatment options are there. But they are SCAMMING people to finance their habit. I was so naive. Now I feel like telling them how I feel but of course I don't want to get violent with them. I can probably barely hide the disgust on my face anyway.
BTW, do you guys think I should've reported him to police too or I did enough?
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Buy Homeless Food or Not?
