Here is a shocker… These pictures are for sure because every time I small children hungry and homeless it saddens me deeply.
It shouldn’t hurt to be a kid!!!
Actually, the pics aren’t the shocker I want to talk about here. I was sitting around the apartment yesterday and street people came into my mind. Understandable, whenever I am out and about these days I’ve been noticing an influx of street people with cardboard signs. Usually concentrated on the major intersections.
As I was saying I couldn’t shake the thought. Street People. Kind of arguing with myself. What’s with this Nick? Always doing the rant saying oh it’s so bad, something has to be done . Someone needs to do something. Then I go, yo Nick your the one with the mouth, why isn’t that someone you? Oops!
Ya, why not Nick? So, I started thinking about what can I do? What skills do I have that I can put to use? I spent my whole working career cooking. Okay, cooking, that’s food, okay hungry street people need food. It’s a no brainer.
I started to investigate online my possibilities. Now, this is where the shocker comes in. My thought, I see Street People all the time with their signs wanting cash. I don’t have much cash flow but my trips to the Dollar Store I can gather the items I need. 1.they will not be refrigerated or warmed up. 2. With enough nutrients for one meal. 3. And at a cost to me under $5.
What I would do is prep say ten or so, and whenever I leave the house I’ll bring a few with me and whenever I see someone in need instead of passing them a buck or two I’ll pass them a brown paper sack full of eatables. It makes perfect sense to me.
This is where it gets scary. Actually, more maddening than scary. Google searching I discovered a couple of places across the U.S. The police were arresting individuals for feeding street people because it is illegal. States have passed legislation to ban individuals from feeding the homeless. WOW!
Closer investigation I ran across an article a local Phoenix minister wrote suggesting that it wasn’t wise to feed street people. That it was counterintuitive, that it was actually working against the agencies helping the homeless get off the street. I’m sorry I just don’t get it. They suggested it was more important to get the homeless housed and providing said meals slow down the process and if one wanted to “give back” then they could volunteer with one of the organizations over the holidays. I can’t say for certain for anyone but myself. I have to eat every day not just Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sure a dwelling is important but without food chances are I would get sick or die quicker Just saying. What do you think?
