How much would you give to the homeless?

[wchou]

If they come to beg for it.

 

[GZDonner]

I give them food if i have it. other than that nothing.

 

[theblackbox]

well worth it to carry a can or two of pork and beans, and when you drive up on a chap with a "will work for food sign" give them a can, and tell them "this ones on me". it's better then subsidizing welfare.

 

[upsciLLion]

If they can beg, they can say, "Would you like fries with that?"

 

[Ryan]

WTF does a homeless person deserve my money for?

 

[0marTheZealot]

I don't give any money

 

[ntdz]

i wouldnt give a homeless person a damn thing besides food...You know they take $ you give them and buy drugs or beer. I even saw a homeless guy with a sign asking for money to buy beer, made me laugh out loud. I truely believe they are homeless because they are either lazy, druggies and/or just don't care about being part of society.

 

[theblackbox]

i've always wanted to dress up nice and go to a corner with a sign that says:

"Will work for good benifits including insurance, 401k, and good pay"

 

[judasmachine]

I usually give what's in my pocket. It's never more than a dollar or two. I know where most of it goes, but hey everyone has their poison. If I can make a few hours of their lives tolerable, I will. Besides money is better given away than horded. When you start worrying about your money you lose a bit of your humanity.

 

[mikeford]

Originally posted by: theblackbox
well worth it to carry a can or two of pork and beans, and when you drive up on a chap with a "will work for food sign" give them a can, and tell them "this ones on me". it's better then subsidizing welfare.

I think it would be a lot wizer to give them something that won't break a window when they throw it at your car.

Best is to print up some fake business cards, and scribble on the back something like JD give this man a job. with a fancy signiture, and hand it to the guy and say show up at this address tomorrow and you have a job.

 

[judasmachine]

Originally posted by: mikeford

Originally posted by: theblackbox
well worth it to carry a can or two of pork and beans, and when you drive up on a chap with a "will work for food sign" give them a can, and tell them "this ones on me". it's better then subsidizing welfare.

I think it would be a lot wizer to give them something that won't break a window when they throw it at your car.

Best is to print up some fake business cards, and scribble on the back something like JD give this man a job. with a fancy signiture, and hand it to the guy and say show up at this address tomorrow and you have a job.

This is just cruel if the person you are handing it to really is willing to do the work. After High School and before College I spent about a year on the road. It's amazing what you see, and who you meet. I used to go to areas that had been hit by tornadoes, and other such calamitys, and pimp out my labor. It made me enough to catch the bus sometimes, and eat. Yeah I even bought booze occasionally. But I had a home to go to when I wanted it, even if it was 1000 miles away. Not all of the homeless are junkies, thieves, and alcoholics. Some people are out there because they don't believe in this society. Many of them are willing to do hard labor for a fair wage, they just don't believe in the "white picket fence" life. Get out of your box once in a while, there are many worlds right under your nose.

 

[digiram]

I was in NYC a few weeks ago, and heard all kinds of crazy stories of homeless people rejecting food from my friends. I still feel bad for most people, so I usually give them some spare change.

However, I hate it when the squigy kids in Toronto come up to my car and start cleaning my winshield with their dirty water, but I feel bad for them too since they are just kids, mostly in their teens. I always wonder how they got to where they were.

 

[AFB]

Not money, they'd just buy alcohol.

 

[Red Dawn]

Depends how much I have and how much I could afford. I wouldn't care if they used it for Drugs or Booze either. You seee being from CA most of the Homeless I would run across were mentally ill and out on the street due to Reagan cutting support for the Mentally Ill when he was Governor.

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: amdfanboy
Not money, they'd just buy alcohol.

so? what else are they going to do with it? other than food and alcohol, there's not much to do with money when you don't even have a place to sleep at night.

 

[nageov3t]

I give whatever I can spare. usually $5-$10.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: ntdz
i wouldnt give a homeless person a damn thing besides food...You know they take $ you give them and buy drugs or beer. I even saw a homeless guy with a sign asking for money to buy beer, made me laugh out loud. I truely believe they are homeless because they are either lazy, druggies and/or just don't care about being part of society.

That's a horrible way of thinking.

Some people are homeless due to reasons beyond their control. And I feel sorry for them.

If you do not want to help by giving money directly to them, AT LEAST help support a charity in your city that helps them, i.e., a shelter, soup kitchen, etc.

I once met a homeless man outside a small strip by a University. First he thanked me for even saying hello. He told me he was hungry and asked if I could help. I took him into a pool hall and ordered up a nice big cheeseburger, fully loaded, with fries and water. The guy behind the bar obliged as long as he left when done. I tipped the bartender well for allowing him to stay, and the homless guy had a hot meal for the first time in a while. He was a nice guy, had a really bad eye (I could tell, it looked horrible) and said his parents had abandoned him when he was young. He thanked me, over and over.

I've seen him around here and there over the years, he's still homeless.

I cannot imagine what life would be like without a home, without any friends, without any family. Nowhere to go, nothing to do but try to find shelter and food. We couldn't live one day in his shoes. It must be hell.

If you want to help, find an organization in your city that helps and give them money. One here in Memphis, the Memphis Union Mission, gives them shelter, food, and tries to help them get off alcohol and drugs (crack in Memphis) if needed, and if they succeed, they help them find a job. They have helped many, many people.

 

[Caminetto]

I volunteered in a homeless shelter for nine years, and was personally aquainted with thousands of homeless people. It makes me physically ill to read the ignorant comments here, and in truth I hold most homeless people in higher regard than many of the judgemental slime posting here.
Red Dawn is quite right, it has everything to do with mental illness, and additionaly not having a family or support group to help.

 

[Spamela]

i keep some dollars in my ashtray to hand out.

 

[piasabird]

In South Korea they use to give them a place to live and some rice. However they had to sweep the street with a little cart or something like that. Could make them clean up a park or sweep a parking lot every day. People need something to do.

 

[ntdz]

Originally posted by: bamacre

Originally posted by: ntdz
i wouldnt give a homeless person a damn thing besides food...You know they take $ you give them and buy drugs or beer. I even saw a homeless guy with a sign asking for money to buy beer, made me laugh out loud. I truely believe they are homeless because they are either lazy, druggies and/or just don't care about being part of society.

That's a horrible way of thinking.

Some people are homeless due to reasons beyond their control. And I feel sorry for them.

If you do not want to help by giving money directly to them, AT LEAST help support a charity in your city that helps them, i.e., a shelter, soup kitchen, etc.

I once met a homeless man outside a small strip by a University. First he thanked me for even saying hello. He told me he was hungry and asked if I could help. I took him into a pool hall and ordered up a nice big cheeseburger, fully loaded, with fries and water. The guy behind the bar obliged as long as he left when done. I tipped the bartender well for allowing him to stay, and the homless guy had a hot meal for the first time in a while. He was a nice guy, had a really bad eye (I could tell, it looked horrible) and said his parents had abandoned him when he was young. He thanked me, over and over.

I've seen him around here and there over the years, he's still homeless.

I cannot imagine what life would be like without a home, without any friends, without any family. Nowhere to go, nothing to do but try to find shelter and food. We couldn't live one day in his shoes. It must be hell.

If you want to help, find an organization in your city that helps and give them money. One here in Memphis, the Memphis Union Mission, gives them shelter, food, and tries to help them get off alcohol and drugs (crack in Memphis) if needed, and if they succeed, they help them find a job. They have helped many, many people.

I donate regularly to charities, they are something I believe in. I've also volunteered at homeless shelters, among other things. I am of the philosophy you help fix someone's life rather than just giving them a temporary fix of money or food. These people need a change of attitude or a little bit of help to get out of their situation, and I think there are MUCH better ways to do it than just giving them $5. I did a report for college a few years ago about a homeless shelter that has showers, food, clean beds, etc.. It had people there that found jobs for them in the community and eventually found them an apartment or steady place to live. Those are the kind of places I believe in, I'd much rather give my money to a place like that than just to a bum on the street who is going to go buy alcohol. Places like that can help change people, and they actually help solve a problem. Giving homeless people money isn't going to get them off the street, it's going to keep them on it.

 

[mikelish]

I give whatever change I have.

I always think the person will do something wrong with the money (i.e. drugs, alcohol, etc) but that's their problem not mine.

 

[mikeford]

I don't see how your ethical responsibility ends when money changes hands. Without the money they get on the street they just might be forced to take a shower, clean up, and lead a sober and usefull life.

And of course I am all in favor of the mentally ill on the street being returned to hospitals against their will and strapped into beds and drugged at state expense.