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Do you give money to people on the street?

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Tyler Durden

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I'm not talking about donations in general here (like writing a cheque to Salvos, or some other charities), but when you see people on the street ask for spare change, do you give them any?

It can be a bit of a difficult issue. When I started working, I used to walk past this guy on the street every Friday night and gave him $5, only to later find out (according to a newspaper article) that he made more than I did

As to others, my soft side is usually ready to open the wallet, yet I then question what they would do with the money. Would it be for drugs? Was it any of my business what they did with it?

I also keep in mind the saying "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". So if I just give them money, how much am I really helping them? I'm sure one trip to Macca's would put them back into square one. Would it be more worthwhile if one were to teach them about money? I mean, money must be earned, not given as of right, agree? What do we encourage if we just keep giving them money?

Interested to hear your opinions.
 
Sometimes, but loose change only as I do donate to charities already (Salvo's, Westpac Rescue Chopper).
 
No. Only exception is "The Big Issue" sold by people with mental health problems. In organising the production of their magazine, they're taking the first steps to coping. And it takes some courage to get out on city streets to advertise that.
 
Yes, almost always. At least in China anyway. Even though most are in a professional syndicate (or so the urban legend goes). If i don't, i look like the cheap foreigner. Besides, its the least i could do, i don't know their story...They could have tried, and given up...I was probably weeks or months away from being like that myself one time...I prefer registered charities though, like World Vision and my sponsor child

CanOz
 
Hey guy's

I sometimes give people money, The problem I find is they usually come back for more and more.

I do however find that the look of relief and gratitude they show makes it all the worth wild,

I also donate with two charities and contemplated starting my own non-for profit.


I strongly believe you have to give to receive,
 
Mr Wilson said:
I also donate with two charities and contemplated starting my own non-for profit.


I strongly believe you have to give to receive,
Click to expand...

I strongly agree with your second comment here.

Regarding starting your own, obviously it depends on your financial situation, but there are already tens of thousands in Australia, and aside from the regulatory/compliance side of things which i have heard takes a lot of time, then there is the fact of trying to get noticed and attract donations.

I know a few people involved in the upper levels of not for profits and most of their job is trying to generate funds (so basically marketing) as opposed to actually helping out, which is what their staff/volunteers do.

If you did want to have a big impact, perhaps find a smaller charity in your area and volunteer your time towards that?

Obviously its each to their own but just my opinion
 

Thank you for your insight.

I have done some research, I was looking at providing affordable housing for single parent's and offer and support programs.

I would need to find at least three board members have a sectary and also a permanent office open to the public
These were the main factors I was concerned about.

For now it's on the back burner, I will work on creating a stronger foundation first,
 
i hate beggars who sit on the corner with a sign and beg, especially that fat landwhale who lurks on the corner of george and market streets, that middle aged lady who's been trying to get home to perth for 17 years in pitt street, and anyone in a physically fit state who has the wherewithal to kneel down and look abject. i want to kick these people in the face as i walk past them.

on the other hand you see people who are properly sick. they are unkempt. they are dirty. they smell. they don't wear shoes. the last one was rooting through a garbage bin in centennial park scaring the picnicing families. these are obviously ill and in need of help, but no one gives a fk about them. i give these people $20 or so and tell them to buy a meal but i know i'm p1ssing in the wind. these people make me sad.

it reminds me when i was young i went backpacking. my first stop was indonesia i found a dozen street kids sleeping in a dumpster. i took them all to maccas and bought them breakfast and all the locals were giving me filthy looks like i was a pedo or something. then i moved on through asia and the middle east and found more of the same. lepers. smallpox victims. crippled kids rotting in gutters. the world is harsh man, you can only do what you can only do despite your wishes.

which brings me back to wanting to kick our pathetic welfare state recipient mentally capable beggars in the face.
 
Not here I don't as I know that we have a welfare system in place for people in poverty. I was always suspicious of the ones in the UK and Europe as I had heard that they were all con artists who would steal your wallet/bag/camera while another one was distracting you with their bleatings. In the US I sometimes did because they were so polite! Sometimes in third world countries I do.

Julia said:
No. Only exception is "The Big Issue" sold by people with mental health problems. In organising the production of their magazine, they're taking the first steps to coping. And it takes some courage to get out on city streets to advertise that.
Click to expand...

Yes, I also buy the Big Issue from time to time for the same reasons.
 
I give a dollar or two if they look genuinely homeless,not some young ratbag looking to put together a paycheck
from dozens of donors.
 
McLovin said:
You don't end up on the street just because you're poor.
Click to expand...

Correct. But we have systems in place to cater for all sorts of reasons people end up on the street, albeit they don't always work as well as they should.
 
Yes why not, usually give a gold coin depends on the mood I'm in.

But have noticed though, the street begging activity
to be on the increase recently. Not a good sign.


***
The other day, a homeless guy asked me for some change,
said his underpants had holes in them.

I said "yeah mate I can see where your coming from."



lol ...Cheers
 
Miss Hale said:
Correct. But we have systems in place to cater for all sorts of reasons people end up on the street, albeit they don't always work as well as they should.
Click to expand...

I volunteer a couple of afternoons a month to help at an inner city drop in centre for homeless people (I do admin stuff for them, not actual counselling etc although I still have a chat to a few of them). If they're under 25, invariably, they are there because they have come from a broken home where one or both parents substance abused and physical and/or sexual violence was routine. Giving a kid at 16 who is addicted to heroin a dole cheque does absolutely zero. They need one on one support, they have serious mental health issues and sadly there are some who are probably broken beyond repair. Government funding helps, there's no doubt, but in reality its private charities that do most of the heavy lifting. No one volunteers to live on the streets, it's a sad, dangerous life. I'm not trying to sound like I'm on my soap-box but making off the cuff remarks about having "systems in place" is a massive overstatement of the help those who fall through the gaps actually get.
 

You're absolutely right, and I commend you for your work and the one-on-one support those around you provide.
But where a dole cheque doesn't help - and I agree, it doesn't - a few coins won't either.

Sitting at a street corner with a sign "I need money for a meal" doesn't do it for me. Sitting or standing and "doing something" - be it singing, playing a didgeridoo, even blowing bubbles to amuse the kids - will attract my attention and a contribution.
 
Good on you, McLovin. I volunteered two days a week for twelve years doing emergency relief assessments for the local community centre. There were certainly plenty of people who knew how to use the system to their advantage, but many struggling with entrenched disadvantage on many fronts. What I'll never forget are the women who have managed to escape from domestic violence, but - despite AVOs etc - spend their whole lives moving from place to place to keep a step ahead of the ex-partner who usually had threatened to kill the children. There is no peace or security for these women or their children, many of whom grow up to repeat the pattern.
 
Slightly off topic but i have contacted 10 - 15 charities who needed volunteers offering to volunteer and only 3 got back to me. If charities are so desperate for help you think they would have better service
 
prawn_86 said:
Slightly off topic but i have contacted 10 - 15 charities who needed volunteers offering to volunteer and only 3 got back to me. If charities are so desperate for help you think they would have better service
Click to expand...
Were they actually asking for volunteers? Many organisations have more volunteers than they can find work for.
 

It wasn't an off the cuff remark, it was just a concise answer. When I said welfare system I actually meant the whole box and dice; government welfare and the work done by charitable organisations. Also, welfare was not meat to imply just monetary handouts, I was thinking of the other services our welfare system offers. I agree, just giving them a welfare cheque will not usually solve the problem, neither will giving them money on the street. As you said they need one on one care, counselling, somewhere to live etc. etc. Yes, some people fall through the gaps, which is what I meant when I said the systems don't always work as well as they should. I give to charities and I also donate my time to organsisations that work for people that are less fortunate than myself but I don't give money to people begging on the street because it won't help them in the long run (and maybe not in the short run if they spend it on booze or drugs) and we have other better ways (systems in place) that can actually help them and I would rather put my money there.
 
Do you give money to people on the street?
Click to expand...

In Australia I don't because they can get the dole and other help from charities easily. However when I travel in 3rd world countries I do, they get nothing and are really desperate people that need help.
 
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