Homeless charities and the red cross all suck

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

All i want to know , is why is it , every person that is on the street trying to get donation for their charity ( at least that iv'e seen ) , is a white guy ( sometimes girl ) with dreadlocks , and a questionable sense of style ( hippy is the closest i can think of )? I mean , is it too much to ask , that these people wear something normal when trying to convince the general population to help their cause or charity . Dress properly , and MAYBE , i'll listen to what you have to say , as it stands i wouldn't trust you with my pennies .

here is the funniest way to confuse a homeless person that asks for change. They are all over in my hometown. The look on their face is confusion, with a twist of anger after they figure it out.

Homeless person: Hey man, do you have any change.

Melook deep into their eyes) Change comes from within.

Homeless personLook of confusion) Um what are you talking about.

10 minutes later

Look back to see that they are pissed, lol.

I am sure you will find that hilarious should you find yourself homeless one day. Most people who lose their homes do not ever think that this could happen to them. Then bad things happen, health issues, job loss, reduced income, increased costs of living and they try to keep up but eventually sink after exhausting all their resources and get foreclosed on and evicted. Although I do not give money directly to the homeless that are asking for it, as I do not see that really helping them, as well as those cons out there that actually just panhandle for a living and are not really homeless to begin with. Instead I offer them resources and set them up with programs that can help them. Blankets, snacks, ready to eat meals, drinks, wipes and other useful items are also usually very appreciated.

I don't believe in Karma. It doesn't exist. Bad stuff happens to people all the time because thats the way it is. Could I be homeless someday. Sure I could. Will it happen Because I am sarcastic to the homeless, no. It's not even a mean thing to say. Seems like you want justification for doing the right thing, which seems way worse than actually just doing it without jumping down peoples throats. You want me salute your efforts, there you go, congrats. You are doing more than most people, feel better now?

I don't think I ever said it would happen to you because of something you did. I am just saying that I am sure you will find that absolutely hilarious should you be on the streets. I don't want you to do anything, other than to expand your own understanding and find your assumptions to be strange. I did not ask for your approval, applaud or condolences. Those are a strange social aspect of your culture, not mine. Hell, in Hopi people do not even wish each other "good day" and find that a very odd behavior. LOL

I don't need justification or reward, I only wish for these people to have better lives than they currently do. Is that really that hard to understand?

 

[SsilverR]

**Snip**

But what does a homeless person actually look like?? I knew guys homeless for years but they still managed to shave and wash in a mcdonalds toilet every morning

Homeless for years but looking fresh

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

**Snip**

But what does a homeless person actually look like?? I knew guys homeless for years but they still managed to shave and wash in a mcdonalds toilet every morning

Homeless for years but looking fresh

Yes, but even with using McDonalds toilet to wash every morning, they are not going to be receiving proper dental care, teeth cleaning, their skin is usually going to show more exposure to the elements, their urine tests usually show dehydration and poor diet, but of course the average person wouldn't know the difference just by looking at someone.

Although someone who has examined many homeless can spot minor details a mile away. The truth is ANYONE can be homeless, so there is no " this is what a homeless person looks like" however, the majority are not able to maintain good hygiene and health while they are homeless, and the despair wears on them both physically and emotionally. This also completely depends on how long they have actually been homeless, where someone who has been homeless a couple of weeks is not going to have the same health impact of someone who has been homeless months or years.

 

[Little Woodsman]

Well here's a little related story.
Many years ago I was a member of a church where our adult bible study group had sought out and found
two worthy charities to support.
One of those charities was a school for handicapped children in a third world country. In that country
it was common for children to be abandoned once the parents realized that they would be unable to work.
One year as Christmas approached, the leader of our group contacted the principal of the school
and asked if there was something extra we could do for them for Christmas.
"If you could send us some old clothes it would be very helpful." was the principal's reply.
Our leader responded, "Oh, we can send you some new clothes, that's fine."
The principal then told her "Please do not send us new clothes. If you send us new clothes they will never reach us."
That's what life was like there--postal workers would steal from handicapped children.
There are many charities all across the board, please do not paint them all with the same brush.

 

[Fenra]

While this is the WWF its a recent (2 days ago) and fairly accurate representation of my interactions with more clipboard carrying people.

While making my way to the bank to transfer some of my savings into my current account to cover my rent for the month this woman stops me, asking for the time but I see the clipboard and know its not about that, so I ask here what she really wants to talk about.

Insert 15 minites of telling me all stuff I already know from my time at university studying animal welfare and conservation, all this currently under the pretense of "I just want to talk" but I know its pretty much a sales pitch, give her the benefit of the doubt.

Once thats all over comes the "so can I sign you up for £2 a month", I am as courteous as I can be but decline, stating I don't earn a lot but will take some leaflets or things she has to hand so I can check in in the future when I can,

Now heres what got me angry, she doesnt take that answer, she keeps going "surely you can spare it" "its not a lot" "why not" on and on and on, must have asked me at least 8 or 9 times everytime I told her no. I get it, charities thrive on donations but badgering me and not accepting a no is making me less and less inclined to donate everytime.

Maybe I lost my temper but I asked her does she donate, the answer was no, how much does she get paid for this, £12 an hour plus commission for each person she gets to sign up, which is almost twice what i earn without counting commission, ask her if she is so commited to this why she doesnt give her wages to the cause, at which point she is left silent and I walk away.

Don't get me wrong I appreciate the idea behind charities, seen some that do work and do what I can when theres a disaster and relief donation funds from the red cross for example, but the £2 a month schemes and a lot of other things, I've yet to be convinced its actually doing anything

 

[CriticalMiss]

Whilst some charities are bullshit and some can be quite harmful at times (PETA and Greenpeace), there are some that are trying to do some good. Some are stuck in an unfortunate place where it costs a lot of money to run them so they spend a lot of their donations just trying to get donations in the first place, whilst the demand for their services keeps going up. I watched a TV show recently that said that most of the money from sponsored walks for cancer charities is spent organising the walk in the first place, pretty much the only good they do is giving people exercise, raising some awareness and making people feel good about helping. It's like placebo charity.

As for your email experiment I think that it is sort of invalid. Firstly, giving someone information on how to donate it pretty easy. They can copy and paste a document on how to send them cash, so a quick reply isn't too much to ask there. Secondly, giving someone information on how to get help will require whoever is reading the email to know how best to help you out, which will vary depending on what you said and where you are. They were probably in another part of the country and might not know what is available near you right away. Plus I'd imagine they weren't planning on too many people emailing for help.

 

[SsilverR]

**Snip**

But what does a homeless person actually look like?? I knew guys homeless for years but they still managed to shave and wash in a mcdonalds toilet every morning

Homeless for years but looking fresh

Yes, but even with using McDonalds toilet to wash every morning, they are not going to be receiving proper dental care, teeth cleaning, their skin is usually going to show more exposure to the elements, their urine tests usually show dehydration and poor diet, but of course the average person wouldn't know the difference just by looking at someone.

Although someone who has examined many homeless can spot minor details a mile away. The truth is ANYONE can be homeless, so there is no " this is what a homeless person looks like" however, the majority are not able to maintain good hygiene and health while they are homeless, and the despair wears on them both physically and emotionally. This also completely depends on how long they have actually been homeless, where someone who has been homeless a couple of weeks is not going to have the same health impact of someone who has been homeless months or years.

What you say is mostly true, but by washing at mcdonalds toilet I did also mean brushing and flossing, ultimately it depends on the individual, like I said my friend was on the street for over 3 years and only a few times did I ever see him looking rough.

The mental strain is easier to spot on someone than the physical in some cases, but those survivalist always keep a positive attitude kind of people are very good at hiding the fact that they're homeless

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

**Snip**

But what does a homeless person actually look like?? I knew guys homeless for years but they still managed to shave and wash in a mcdonalds toilet every morning

Homeless for years but looking fresh

Yes, but even with using McDonalds toilet to wash every morning, they are not going to be receiving proper dental care, teeth cleaning, their skin is usually going to show more exposure to the elements, their urine tests usually show dehydration and poor diet, but of course the average person wouldn't know the difference just by looking at someone.

Although someone who has examined many homeless can spot minor details a mile away. The truth is ANYONE can be homeless, so there is no " this is what a homeless person looks like" however, the majority are not able to maintain good hygiene and health while they are homeless, and the despair wears on them both physically and emotionally. This also completely depends on how long they have actually been homeless, where someone who has been homeless a couple of weeks is not going to have the same health impact of someone who has been homeless months or years.

What you say is mostly true, but by washing at mcdonalds toilet I did also mean brushing and flossing, ultimately it depends on the individual, like I said my friend was on the street for over 3 years and only a few times did I ever see him looking rough.

The mental strain is easier to spot on someone than the physical in some cases, but those survivalist always keep a positive attitude kind of people are very good at hiding the fact that they're homeless

That also depends on whether or not they have access to toothpaste, soap and floss as well. Not all areas have those things as readily available as others, nor do all the people have access to the areas where they are distributed.