As I’m sure many of you do, I with some regularity drive past people begging for change at intersection and so forth. And sometimes I give them some change, and sometimes I don’t.
But I’m fairly often struck by the thought that (for whatever reason) I would feel much better giving them food, say, a granola bar, than actual money.
So I’ve been tempted to just buy a box of granola bars every once in a while, keep it in my car, and give them out when appropriate.
Has anyone ever done this? Are there obvious reasons why this is a bad or good idea that I’m not thinking of? Any other comments/thoughts?
Go right ahead. But what do you think you’re accomplishing? These guys aren’t starving. That takes mental illness severe enough that you refuse to take advantage of the services available. And if you’re that mentally ill the cops will eventually pick you up and you’ll go to psych unit and you’ll get patched up until you’re well enough that they can’t detain you involuntarily anymore, and then you’ll go back on the streets. The exception would be homless minors, who would be worried that they’ll get sent back home if they try to get services.
If you don’t want to give out money, why not have a couple cartons of cigarettes and hand out packs? That way you know they won’t spend the money on drugs and booze, and smokes are gonna be a lot more appreciated than granola bars. Or buy a bunch of McDonalds coupons, just make sure they’re the kind that don’t require any cash outlay.
But the thing about money vs goods is that the homeless person can exchange the money for the goods they actually want, rather than what you think they want. They probably already have clothes and food, and you’re not going to be giving them a roof over their head. So who’s in a better position to judge what they need, you or them? Maybe it’s you, because these guys are, you know, homeless, and there’s got to be a reason they’re on the streets rather than sleeping on someone’s couch. But you probably don’t have a lot of experience being homeless, so maybe your ideas don’t match reality either.
I’m not in the habit of giving them money but their plight does give me concern and I like the idea of keeping a box on hand for whenever it might seem appropriate. Regardless of what vices they might be into, their situation sucks and it can’t hurt to put just a tiny little bit of compassionate care into their day. Good call, Max. ‘Tis the season to be a pleasin’.
If a person is really hungry, a granola bar is not a good choice as two thick sandwiches, an MRE meal or similar.
Do you have soup kitchens and asylums where the homeless can sleep? A table that collects food from supermarkets and distributes it to the poor? A bus with street workers (not the religious kind) that drives around trying to build contact with the poor? A tea shop where the homeless can sit during the day, collect mail, talk with social workers, shower and do laundry? A couple of doctors going around in their free time treating them?
Contact any of these groups, and ask them what they need: medicine for the doctors, gas for the bus, socks for the homeless, little packages (we had this in hotel threads before) of soap and shampoo … and donate that. Then get some flyers and hand the adresses to the homeless so they know where to go if they don’t already.
Pretty much this. Or, you could do what I do, which is donate money to homeless shelters in your area. They are always looking for money, food, old clothing, etc. THAT would be helpful.
Buy a big pack of new socks and hand them a pair or two. Or underwear (although sizes in undies vary a lot more than in socks). They will be appreciated far more than food.
I agree with Lemur that a typical homeless person is not in danger of actually perishing from starvation. However, in my experience they typically appreciate food. While there are food pantries and such in any urban area, some homeless people simply prefer to be indoors as little as possible.
It’s a regrettable fact that if they get cash, many of them will spend it on drugs or liquor. Handing out food is better. Working with organized efforts to help them out is better still.
Cotton socks, gloves, a big thing of baby wipes, blankets, a tarp, these are the things they need most. Those slipper socks with the rubber on the feet are good too. They can wear them alone or slip them over a holey pair of shoes. Galoshes are good in certain climates, but in warm ones just promote foot rot - an extremely serious problem.
Anti-fungal foot spray, cans of fruit or veggies with the pull tops.
For the folks who you’ve spoken to and know are on the ball enough to only eat one a day chewable vitamins are another excellent choice, also aspirin.
If you really want to buy bars to hand out look for the ones with high fiber/protein/vitamin content. I like the Clif Builder bars.
Malnutrition is a serious problem and greatly exacerbates many mental health issues. If you can get a dose of vitamins into them along with some protein, it’s an enormous help.
I’ve known people who carried McDonald’s gift certificates; and having spent several years working in homeless shelters, I know a lot of guys get them. Never saw granola bars, but I’m sure you’re not the first. Some guys are the type to look gift horses in the mouth, but most would say thank you and would understand your wanting your money to go for booze or drugs.
Then again, most guys trade pretty much everything; give ten guys a granola bar, and I guarantee that a couple of them will try to swap it for something else they want instead (which, likely as not will be booze or drugs…).
Give as your conscience tells you and don’t worry about the rest.
I think it’s patronizing and pretentious to make homeless peoples’ choices for them, rather than letting them choose what they want. If you want to make them feel better, give them a little window of relief from their predicament, then give them money so they can get whatever they want to get.
A homeless person is not going to turn his life around because you gave him a granola bar.
If I give a homeless person a granola bar, I am not making his choices for him. I am making my choices. I don’t have to give him shit, and if I give him a granola bar, that’s one more granola bar he’d have than if I’d given him nothing. If he doesn’t want it, he can decline. That is the choice he has.
Damn good advice, concerning the socks. When I was on the streets a pair of thermal socks would have been a godsend, and i would gladly have taken a used pair freshly washed.
Tins of Vienna sausages and potted meat are appreciated, I know this from experience. Peanut butter and cracker packets, jerky, beans, especially the pull tab cans.
I don’t understand handing out packs of cigarettes over food of any sort. Not every homeless person smokes but they all have to eat and while it may be unlikely that they’d starve to death, they do get hungry and I’ve known a few who get bad food out of dumpsters nearby instead of taking the trip downtown to the mission. It’s a long trip.
Socks, sweaters, jogging pants/shirts, gloves and even old shoes get passed out to the guys in my neighborhood who live under the bridge. Not all of them are drugged or drunks, they just can’t find work. It’s gotten pretty bad lately for the immigrants especially because they often don’t qualify for services.
Agreed. I’m neither their keeper nor their guardian. I’m just a guy that might be able to spare a buck or two to make someone’s life suck a little less for a short while. If they choose to spend it on drugs or booze, so be it. The point in the giving is to ease misery, not score some snob points for providing a morally superior gift.
I spent a long time with the Salvation Army providing far more than just granola bars, and to sum up my experience: The stuff they didn’t want/need was sold, the stuff they did want/need wasn’t good enough.
As to the first part, it got so bad we had to stop the program. I’m not suggesting that ALL homeless people will do this ALL the time. It just really sucked knowing that you put a lot of effort into something that was subsequently traded for smokes. So a new rule was written that no food could leave the facility. We ended up throwing away food at the end of service. Think about that for a second, the Salvation Army kitchen was throwing away food.
The second part is tricky as well. This is where you end up hearing a lot of comments like, “I don’t like raisins, why do all these have raisins? Do you have any with chocolate chips? I’m allergic to peanuts, do you have some with cashews or almonds?”
One of the programs provided a lunch. And if the lunch included pork we had a list of people that were kosher and could get something else. Oddly enough, there were a lot fewer kosher people when there was bacon, but a lot more when it was the crappy McRib-type thing.
It’s the inevitable result of when you try to provide something to someone for free. Really has nothing at all to do with the homeless, just basic human psychology. I actually see the same thing with corporate catering. Try providing just Pepsi products some time (for free) and see how many people bitch that what they want is a Diet Coke. Those same people will then pocket a bunch of extra cans to take home.