In times like these, we need more stories like this, so let it spread like a wildfire.

PHOEBE Food Bank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GpsJxiBAC4

Every day I see more and more homeless people on the streets; trust me, they don't want to be there any more than you want to see them, this little girl could not understand why, and came up with her own little solution to help, through collecting cans (with help) that only get .05 cents ea. she collected over 3 thousand dollar$ worth to help feed people at her local food bank, I know we are all struggling, but try to imagine that when you see someone that is down and out, that they are someone's sister, brother, father, or mother, we are all in this together, and in our own way we must help. This is a real crisis that we are facing, so even if you donate 1 can of food that you will not eat, it's something,.. like an old soda can someone threw away.
I know we joke around with all kinds of crap here, but this is not a laughing matter, when you help someone that needs help, there may come a day that you yourself needs help, I'd like to think of karma being a wheel, and good or bad, it will come back around.

maybe it would make more sense, to help people in time before they reach the bottom, and not to wait, until everything is a desaster in live.

talking about my own situation: savings gone away for paying live, and income from my freelancer work too much to quit it, but too little for living. looking for an employee-job over months, with 38 age difficult already (at least in creative-business), and for simple part-time-jobs overqualified in the eyes of the bosses, although meanwhile I am really ready to do any job. so my lives-direction is kind of one-way at the moment. Lucky me, there is my wife beside me, having a very good income, and paying boths lives. THANK YOU!

this could be the right time, to receive some financial injection, to realize an idea, that will bring a stable income in future. Not one bank would finance people in such a situation, they need securities. A live-time support by government makes a huge sum at the end. Granting even a part of this amount, would give a realistic chance to avoid a live in poverty and sorrows.

All this combined with governmental help for those who really reached the bottom.

good find Paul.....I AGREE!!!!

No doubt YP, but the problem is "now" for so many good people out there, one of the best things I learned from the TV show "Kung Fu" when I was a kid, was, that if someone saves your life, you must save 10 lives in return, my life was saved when I was @ 4-5 years old, I jumped in a pool and sank to the bottom, after sitting there for a while my sister jumped in and grabbed me off the bottom, only after hearing an old woman say "he's on the bottom of the pool", when she was looking for me, I have literally saved a few lives so far, I don't think I have hit 10 though but I'm working on it And I won't stop if I ever do hit 10. My heart is torn to pieces when I see someone laying in the street, I say to myself, what if that was someone from my family, anyway, the point of this thread was that it does not take much to help someone, it just takes the first step of acting on it.

agree paul. of course, I could take some of those poor people home, give them a bath, food, a bed, a save place for a period.
best we can do, and start right now, is living carefully, with a certain awareness. to reflect our habits on consumption and a careful use of our sources. to have an eye on "who is selling this ware or service to me?" and "how is this company acting on the (global) market?". social responsibility might be the word for it. so we can take influence on the markets, support the fair-players and avoid those, who damage people and the planet. the challenge will be to give up or change habits, and not being dazzled by low prices.
thats what I do actively, what I am able to, for a better world. the rest is politics, so vote for the good ones!

Like I said, we can all do our part in our own way, I'm not saying to take a homeless person home, because soon you'll both be homeless, and you can't help someone that refuses to help themselves, but a foodbank at least gives a person some fuel to go on and maybe get back on their feet.

Thoughtful and kind thread.

Hard times produce victims and these are hard times. While we can't pickup every homeless person we have to show small kindnesses by recognizing that most of these people are victims of the times, mental health issues and possibly bad choices. It does not cost much not to look down on them and to sympathize a little. Unfortuneately many people do not because they are absorbed by their own perceived self importance. Supposedly there is supposed to be a safety net for these people but that net does little if any good at all. What it does do is enable people to say it's not my problem, but in reality this is all our problem. No one should be so sure that this could not happen to them or someone in their family.

Here in Canada it is sad to see that in a country that brags about it's concern for world peace, equality for all people, that I can drive to Toronto and see literally hundreds of homeless both young and old.

We live in Burlington, Ontario considered a nice middle class neighbourhood yet every Monday on recycle day we have people going through our blue box looking for returnable wine and beer bottles at $.10 and $.05 cents each. We have millions for private interest groups to build a performing arts center that no one but a few will ever attend but nothing to give these people a helping hand.

I am not saying I am any kind of saint-I know I don't do enough, but I always try to keep a can of ready to eat soup or chili in the car. I'll wrap a dollar around the can when I give it to a street corner guy.

Just a thought.

That's a cool idea!

Years ago my father-in-law and I were at a gas station. There was a guy going to each pump with a gas can asking for money so that he could fill his can and go get his car. When he go to our pump my father-in-law told him that he'd fill the guys can. The guy said he didn't want to bother and that he'd just fill up when he'd gotten enough. My father-in-law insisted that he put the can down and dad would fill it. Dad said he knew that if the guy really wanted fuel he'd just get his can filled. Finally the guy admitted that he just wanted the cash and didn't really need the fuel and he moved on.

A few weeks later I was at another gas station and there was another guy asking for money to get food or a ride to the bus station. At first I wanted to brush him off. But as I went through the drive-thru at the fast food place next door I could still see him next door panhandling. Something about it got to me. I bought an extra combo meal and drove back to the gas station to give it to him.

He cried. I mean cried sincere tears. Told me it was the first meal he'd had in two days. That he'd been using all his money trying to get home to his parents to get back on his feet. Even though it was Southern California (a.k.a. dangerous) I told him to get in my car and I drove him to the bus station. Dude cried the entire ride and kept thanking me.

Compassion works best when mixed with discernment.

hope, this junkfood didnt kill him...

Damn,... Florida and California are really taking a hit.

Here's for you.

A young ventriloquist is touring the clubs and one night he's doing a show in a small club in a small town in Arkansas. With his dummy on his knee, he's going through his usual dumb blonde jokes when a blonde woman in the fourth row stands on her chair and starts shouting: ''I've heard enough of your stupid blonde jokes. What makes you think you can stereotype women that way? What does the color of a person's hair have to do with her worth as a human being? It's guys like you who keep women like me from being respected at work and in the community and from reaching our full potential as a person, because you and your kind continue to perpetuate discrimination against, not only blondes, but women in general...and all in the name of humor!''

standing ovations for this lady!

And then she walked up and slapped the dummy.