your take on panhandlers/homeless

[QuarterMillionMan]

I'm not a religious zealot like some of my friends on facebook but the scripture from the bible about Jesus saying "give a person a fish and you feed him for a day, or teach a person to fish and feed them for a lifetime," is spot-on and applies to this very situation.

[TexasHusker]

I'm not a religious zealot like some of my friends on facebook but the scripture from the bible about Jesus saying "give a person a fish and you feed him for a day, or teach a person to fish and feed them for a lifetime," is spot-on and applies to this very situation.

I'm no Bible scholar but I'm pretty sure that's not a quote from Jesus.

I think you're thinking of the quote where he said "if it ain't broke, break it".

[~bs]

I'm no Bible scholar but I'm pretty sure that's not a quote from Jesus.

lol... I think jesus was a "fisher of men", and that quote was from a Chinese scholar.

[TexasHusker]

lol... I think jesus was a "fisher of men", and that quote was from a Chinese scholar.

I thought it was a Yiddish scholar

[rennigade]

I'm not a religious zealot like some of my friends on facebook but the scripture from the bible about Jesus saying "give a person a fish and you feed him for a day, or teach a person to fish and feed them for a lifetime," is spot-on and applies to this very situation.

So we should start teaching bums to fish?

Its a cute analogy but its not that practical anymore.

[StormRichards]

[TexasHusker]

So we should start teaching bums to fish?

Its a cute analogy but its not that practical anymore.

I think the analogy is still valid. Let's start handing out Zebco 33s instead of $5 bills. Those **** need to start fish'n.

[james.hendrickson]

Guys, please lets keep things respectful here. This thread has already been reported twice.

[Outdoorsygal]

"Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. Matthew 5:42

Since I always use cash, hardly ever any other form of payment, I always have it. And if asked, I always give it.
If clearly appear to be struggling, I've also just handed them money and walked off. By the time they realize what i've
discretely given them, I am pretty much in the car. I don't want to embarass them. Usually it is $10-$20 but it's been $5 here or there
if that is all I have in my purse at the time.

I remember one day outside of McDonalds a scruffy man in a wheelchair with one leg asked me for $. I had none so went in the car to get it.
In between a woman parked right in front of the restaurant had just denied him. She saw me go into my glove box and come back to give him $$.
He immediately looked at the door and someone held it for him. He clearly was immediately going inside to get the food
She came darting back out of her car when she saw this and handed him money. I was proud of her. We are so used to assuming the worst

I "might" give to an organization but I know I am doing just that. Not giving to the homeless.
I'm just hoping the end result is...99%-100% will go to the cause. Yet I've volunteered alot for different organizations in the past

There is one homeless organization in the town I work that claims 100% of their proceeds, all money accepted and goods, go to the homeless.
The volunteers donate their own $$ to keep the organization running. They operate a thrift store

.

[~bs]

It can vary greatly, but I've seen a statistic where ~ 70% of money you donate to charities/non-profits reach the end user. I think the organizations are required or "encouraged" to report this statistic. The reason for the 30% is overhead costs, salaries, rent, etc etc etc.

[Outdoorsygal]

It can vary greatly, but I've seen a statistic where ~ 70% of money you donate to charities/non-profits reach the end user. I think the organizations are required or "encouraged" to report this statistic. The reason for the 30% is overhead costs, salaries, rent, etc etc etc.

I think 70% is on the high end. I know very very little of Goodwills donation $$ actually go to the cause.

I stopped going there when I saw a homeless wheelchairbound man arrested for stealing socks.

My Ebay sales have now increased because I sell clothes. Something Goodwill has a ton of.

[rennigade]

I think 70% is on the high end. I know very very little of Goodwills donation $$ actually go to the cause.

I like goodwill but hate when they ask if you want to round up to the nearest dollar. I actually started asking if they could round down...then I proceed to tell them that all of their inventory is donated. Its interesting to see their reaction.

[Outdoorsygal]

I like goodwill but hate when they ask if you want to round up to the nearest dollar. I actually started asking if they could round down...then I proceed to tell them that all of their inventory is donated. Its interesting to see their reaction.

Oh yes, they started doing that a while ago. That bothered me too.
It's sort of the reverse of telling someone "Thank you for shopping at Goodwill and supporting our causes"

My Downs Syndrome Aunt was treated like dirt. They have policies which almost force those with disabilities to work though some just aren't equipped for it.
My Aunt cannot concentrate very long.
They wouldn't let her out of work long while because they are paid an hourly rate for those folks.
Not sure how much $$ Goodwill receives by my aunt got less than .25cents an hour. She was born with major health issues also so shouldn't be standing and working that long.
My Grandmother was a druggie

[disneysteve]

This thread has more than run it's course and has devolved into some not so nice posts so I'm going to go ahead and close it.