Gimme,Gimme,Gimmee!

coltle6920

coltle6920

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Last month was for Thanksgiving. At the checkout line I'm asked to donate money for the needy so they can feast on turkey. I politely say no thanks. Apparently I got the clerk that thinks I like to see people in need go without a traditional turkey dinner.

I had pasta for Thanksgiving. I'm not needy but nor am I rich. The Safeway I shop at offered turkeys,spiral hams and prime rib for sale leading up to Thanksgiving. The turkeys and hams were going for pennies on the dollar Thanksgiving eve. You couldn't donate some or all to some shelter and write it off?

Now we're already into the Christmas "Gimme" season. We have to make sure that families that probably already have cellphones,cable TV and a computer have things that they can't or wont budget for. When asked for a donation I will politely say no.

This same Safeway fires it up for Back-to-school. Got to provide these rugrats with a backpack,pencils and paper. We didn't have a need for any of these items until Junior High. Again I say let the parents budget for these items along with their cable and cellphone bill.

Lastly we're confronted with requests to donate to the female issue of breast cancer. I'm all for it but when I ask the clerk when they are going to have a jar for men's prostate cancer all I see is a blank stare. I guess it's not an important issue for them.

I'm sorry if I offend anyone here but this is the World we live in. I have OTA TV and the "Gimme" ads are nonstop. At least I can change the channels on my tv.
 
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As a retired pastor, I have frequently seen families in need. Sometimes the issues that bring about need are self-inflicted, sometimes not. My overall philosophy has been to alleviate the need with direct action rather than giving anyone money. If they said they were hungry, we would help with food. If they claimed to need gas I would take them to the station and pump it. We NEVER gave cash.

I'm confident I have been scammed a few times, but I'd rather be scammed than let genuine need go unmet.

We do all our charitable giving through out local church, through which funds go to national and international causes. The overhead is absorbed by our denomination, the channels for distribution are already in place and the whole enterprise is consistent with our values.

When solicited out in public I un-apologetically respond, "we do all our giving through our church."

So many charities have abysmal records for amounts of money that actually get to the need that I have a clear conscience doing it this way.
 
Where I live the kids are provided meals at school, some get three squares a day. I constantly get in arguments about it, why should I pay my tax money for stuff like this? Everyone of these poor kids has a daddy, why ain't he paying for his little sprog's meals? I've been called a few not so complimentary things by bleeding hearts when I bring this up. I know there are ways to determine who daddy is, momma has a decent idea who daddy is, they should be made to take care of the results of their 30 seconds of whoopee, not me. If they refuse they should be put to work by the courts doing whatever, collecting garbage, building roads, digging holes and money should be taken out of their checks to support their offspring.

Brother have I gotten some venom bringing this up at times. I just can't imagine a daddy not wanting to take care of his kids.
 
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Hunger is suppose the "Negative Reinforcement" to being a Lazy Jerk! Alms were the ancient way of helping the true needy.

14 separate churches of my county, take care of "Homeless" families. This group of churches has a 6 suite house we house them in. Everyday, they are at work or looking for work! They are in bed by 9:30 (or if work dictates on an adjusted schedule.) The churches provide food for them to fix their own breakfast and lunch. Then every night, the evening meal is brought to them! They get to meet the real people that provide for them.

Most of the homeless families, get back on their feet in 3 to 6 weeks. They just need a helping hand, and they get one!

Then there are some that won't do what it takes to become a useful member of society. Most often they take off for another town to try their luck scamming some other group. But they have to go further away than they use too. Who they are and what they do (and don't do) follows them from town to town!

When my wife and I take out turn to feed them, they eat better than my family ate when we had kids! It is pretty easy to see the ones that will recover from their hard times...They are the ones that say a meaningful "THANK YOU!"

Ivan
 
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You can't blame the kids for their parents lifestyle.

A hungry kid is hungry.

Christmas always depressed me in a way. We would see how excited our kids were as Christmas got closer, and on Christmas day. I couldn't help thinking about the kids that woke up to nothing, even if it was due to their parents lifestyle.

A very good friend of mine died right before Thanksgiving from breast cancer. I saw on her obit that donations could be made to a organization. Talked to her daughter about it, and she said they helped them out in great multitudes over her mom's 8 year fight. I had no problem donating.
 
There is need, and there is want. Big difference between the two. I help those who need in my own way, outside of the overhead sucking charities. Those that want get my usual response. Starvation is a wonderful motivator, even a stupid bird knows that the nest comes first, and go take a lesson from the squirrels preparing for winter. The elderly, the sic, the ones that cant work to solve their problems...they get my help. I did not get the warm and fuzzies this year watching a 20 something girl dressed to the 9's on the local news marching up to get her free turkey. Those that only want get a lot of my tax dollars. Oh that's so uncaring and selfish of me.
 
A slight misquote from my father from way back:

"You'll never see a poor person without beer, cigarettes, and at least one dog."

Of course, you can add cellphone to that these days, but that's something inflicted by society as a whole. Today employers expect, and sometimes require, that you have a cellphone.
 
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Old_Cop said:
It's grifter season, soon they'll leave for warmer climes.
Click to expand...

They're already here. The ones I saw yesterday had all of their belongings in their backpacks and were puffing away.

They don't stay around here to long, our police make sure they don't take root. Broward on south it gets worse as you go. The largest communities are in Miami. A lot of them stay year round.
 
I'm sure those who don't believe in charity think they'll never be in a position to need it themselves. I sincerely hope they don't. I certainly hope I never do.

I chaired the United Way campaign for our agency one year. In the past, there had been subtle pressure applied to donate, and there was considerable resentment each year when the time came to ask for money. I had felt that resentment myself as a young officer.

I made a point to visit every roll call and unit meeting to make a low key pitch and always ended by saying that no one would say another word to them about it if they chose not to contribute. I instructed supervisors at every level to accept the pledge cards with a thanks and nothing further. I won't take any credit, but for whatever reason, our agency did the best we'd ever done that year. One particular employee went out of his way to inform me that he didn't believe in charity, complete with a long winded explanation. I told him that was fine and no one would pressure him to donate.

Some months later that same employee required some surgery and the rehab time was going to exhaust his sick leave and put him in an unpaid leave status. He promptly applied to the sick leave "pool" which everyone donated their unused time to. Turns out he believed in charity after all, but apparently only if he was the recipient. I was happy he had that resource available and I never spoke to him about it.

Is there a moral to this story? Not for me to say.

Happy Holidays,
Doug
 
I don't give money anymore, but that can backfire too.

I volunteered with a church group to paint a house. An old women was living alone in a frame house and it was structurally sound but weathered and in great need of a paint job or it was going to go south in a hurry.

We had a well equipped small army working on it, replacing rotted boards, scrapping loose paint, and caulking. We were about 57 tubes of caulk into the job when her sons showed up. Both appeared able-bodied and a lot younger than the "grandpa" squad that was working on the house.

They set up a couple of lawn chairs on either side of a cooler of beer and commenced to watch the show. We just let it go. The spray guns came out shortly after that anyway.

But then again once I saw a guy on the side of the road with a sign that read "visions of a cheeseburger". That was funny enough to warrant a swing through the drive-thru for a Whataburger combo.
 
For 20 years I was on the board of a charity that gave food to local food banks and I've done some other charity work (in addition to decades spent working for the rights of indigents). Like any thinking person, I get frustrated and have difficulty discerning how best to engage when confronted with a request for charity.

I found this book helpful - perhaps some of you will also - I got it at Amazon:

514-E1YYUoL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
 
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