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Homeless shelters serve up Starbucks: 'It's a dignity thing'
Chicago Tribune ^ | 6/26/2017 | Samantha Bomkamp

Posted on 06/27/2017 5:21:20 AM PDT by simpson96

Three of Chicago's largest homeless shelters have banished bologna in favor of seared steak, za'atar chicken and perhaps, an extra helping of dignity.

The shelters, which traditionally serve a hot sit-down dinner and breakfast, often handed a peanut butter sandwich or other brown-bag lunch fare to visitors as they left each morning. But now, a partnership with Starbucks through Feeding America and the Greater Chicago Food Depository means that homeless Chicagoans get an upgrade to that critical daytime meal. The partnership potentially will expand to other U.S. cities as Starbucks' lunch offerings grow.

Unsold sandwiches and salads from Starbucks' Mercato lunch menu, currently only available in Chicago, are now directed to the three shelters nightly: Franciscan House in East Garfield Park, the shelter run by Olive Branch Mission in West Pullman and Pacific Garden Mission on the near West Side. Shelter managers say that the packaged meals, which range from a Cuban sandwich to green goddess avocado salads, have given those who stay at the shelters a much-requested break from the traditional PB&J they would leave with in the morning, reduced food waste, and freed up hours of sandwich-making traditionally handled by volunteers.

They're also giving the temporary shelter residents something less tangible but even more important, shelter officials say.

"There's something respectful about giving out good, quality food," said Ed Jacob, executive director of Franciscan Outreach, which runs Franciscan House. "It's a dignity thing. It's not like putting bologna between two slices of bread."

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Illinois
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To: grania

Yup.

It’s their product and their money.

People here have no business complaining as if Starbucks owe them those sandwiches because they aren’t homeless.


21 posted on 06/27/2017 5:45:36 AM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: grania

I live in N.J. and the company that I was working for had a semi annual open house with plenty of catered food. There was always plenty left over and I volunteered to take it to Paterson to a homeless shelter. I was told that legally we could not do that. Apparently so called second hand food cannot be donated. In the meantime the food went into the dumpster. What a waste. But that was/is the law here in N.J.


22 posted on 06/27/2017 5:45:55 AM PDT by certrtwngnut (Hey snowflake. You want a safe place go to a gun range.)
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To: simpson96

Starbucks is burnt crap anyway. Let’em chug the swill.


23 posted on 06/27/2017 5:46:00 AM PDT by Mermaid Girl
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To: simpson96

The more you reward an action, the more you will get of that action.

When I was growing up, going on welfare was to be ashamed. Something done only as a last resort and something to get off of as soon as possible.

Studies in the past had shown that while the “poverty numbers” remain pretty much the same over the years, the individuals that were considered below the poverty line changed.

Individuals (and families) would often at no fault of their own (illness, loss of job, injury) would be put into a financial crisis that required assistance. These individuals would do what it took to get back on their feet again.

Socialist have done everything they could to make being poor painless and without shame.

If solving the nation’s poverty problem I am sorry to burst their utopian bubble but human nature being what it is means this approach will mean an ever growing number of “poor”. Personally I think think those in charge know this, solving the problem is not their real goal. Look at other programs that have been created to “solve” the problem.

It is no coincidence that these same liberals push for higher minimum wages. They are designed to make it impossible for the poor to enter into the job market.

Add into this equation student loans for questionable trade schools, you have a motivated individual trying to do what is right only to discover there is no job waiting at the end of the process and now they are broke, unemployed and facing a debt they will never be able to pay off. They give up.

Liberals want as many poor as they can create to justify more government workers to take care of them.

That is my opinion anyway, you may disagree.


24 posted on 06/27/2017 5:54:55 AM PDT by CIB-173RDABN (US out of the UN, UN out of the US)
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To: sphinx
You have highlighted two important ideas. The first is that finding ways to recycle prepared food that isn't sold or used is a good, common sense idea. In many areas local regulations prevent the sending perfectly fine unused food to homeless shelters. Using the prepared but unsold sandwiches from Starbucks is a good idea.

The second is that continual efforts to make the life of people who are struggling at the bottom of the economic ladder better actually can make things worse for them. The removal of very low cost housing, like SRO hotels, or apartments without kitchens that have dishwashers and garbage disposals, reduced the supply of low cost housing and made it harder to have someplace to live. Higher minimum wages make it more difficult for people with limited skills to find work. The vast supply of college graduates today means that many businesses want applicants to have a college degree, even when the job doesn't require that level of education.

And if we re-define a meal to mean it has to have a Starbucks quality fancy sandwich, then there will be a lot fewer choices for people who can't afford that level of luxury.

25 posted on 06/27/2017 5:58:59 AM PDT by freeandfreezing
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To: grania
If Starbucks is donating the unsold food for free, that’s fine.

I agree. Starbucks is taking product which is no longer of any value to them and letting homeless people scavenge the waste. They save the expense of waste disposal and they get "virtue signaling" points up the ying yang from the elitists they consider to be their main customer base.

It's smart management and free advertising. And the chumps who are part of the "I'm too good to drink ordinary coffee" elite cabal will never even realize what they've done.

26 posted on 06/27/2017 6:13:12 AM PDT by Kenton
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To: grania

I understand your position and I agree
All I’m saying is the use if the word free does not give credit to those who spend their money to purchase the product. Someone, somewhere is paying for it.


27 posted on 06/27/2017 6:19:47 AM PDT by Tac Double Tap (I'd rather die standing than on my knees begging.)
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To: VanDeKoik

>>People here have no business complaining as if Starbucks owe them those sandwiches because they aren’t homeless.

I don’t think people are complaining that Starbucks is donating food - its that the shelter is stating that there guests are now too good to be forced to eat free bologna sandwiches while plenty of people NOT getting handouts are buying bologna sandwiches to eat with the money they earned.

People getting free food should not be picky about what they get to eat - in fact, the food and accommodations should be marginally crappy as a motivation to not have to depend on it. The safety net should not become a hammock that is so comfortable that people start to think ‘why should I take a min wage job and be forced to eat my own bologna sandwiches, when I can just get free stuff that that is better than I could afford to buy if I worked.

How many people in the picture above don’t look able-bodied enough to work?


28 posted on 06/27/2017 6:20:40 AM PDT by ISTHISONETAKEN
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To: simpson96
Hey, I don't drink coffee and have never been to a StarTakeYourBucks.

Nothing wrong with my "dignity".

This is all liberal BS.

29 posted on 06/27/2017 6:21:33 AM PDT by HotHunt
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To: simpson96
green goddess avocado salads

Gross. If this isn't an incentive to get off the public dole so one can afford to buy decent food, I don't know what is.
30 posted on 06/27/2017 6:28:47 AM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: CIB-173RDABN

When I was growing up, going on welfare was to be ashamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As was being pregnant out of wedlock. We need to bring back shame for shameful behavior..............Not reward it.


31 posted on 06/27/2017 6:29:56 AM PDT by Graybeard58 (The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.)
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To: simpson96
"It's a dignity thing. It's not like putting bologna between two slices of bread."

The truly homeless are not gourmands who turn their noses up at perfectly good plain food. I managed to make it through many school lunches with nothing more than a slice of bologna between two slices of bread - food that was paid for by my parents, not by taxpayers - and I managed to survive the ordeal with my dignity intact.
32 posted on 06/27/2017 6:32:55 AM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: simpson96

Starbucks is crap coffee and is all marketing hype....they over roast their beans....I can’t drink their swill.....

My assessment is they are punishing the poor by making them drink it......


33 posted on 06/27/2017 6:34:49 AM PDT by nevergore (I have a terrible rash on my covfefe....)
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To: simpson96

First off, I don’t complain about Starbucks. It is a capitalist society, allegedly. If someone wants to dump their money on their products, have at it. It is their choice. I don’t but that is also my choice. I like Dunkin Donuts Coffee more.

Second, if they are donating the stuff that would normally just go into the dumpster, I applaud them, even if they are taking a deduction for it. No matter how high the deduction, it would only be allowed to be the value of the product to them, not the retail value, so be it. IMO, it is for a good cause.

Third, if the goofy do gooders believe that eating bologna sandwiches and lemonade are not want they want to deliver, so be it. Their business model to do so.

As long as the state is not playing a role in this endeavor, I have no dog in the fight. We need to bring a spotlight on the up creeping number of “poor” in this country. It is skewing the need for all the “programs” to fix the problem. Real poor do not have cell phones, TV, convertible autos, and dishwashers. Poor has become a word that would have equaled middle class a century ago.


34 posted on 06/27/2017 6:34:52 AM PDT by Mouton (The MSM is a clear and present danger to the republic.)
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Oh perfect-is it served by a muslim refugee? Starsucks, ever the foo foo face of liberal consumerism while hating the USA......


35 posted on 06/27/2017 6:39:41 AM PDT by TnTnTn
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To: simpson96

Um wow. The shelters are to help you get by. You aren’t *supposed* to like them.


36 posted on 06/27/2017 6:42:01 AM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: simpson96

How about a heaping cup full of humility and gratitude? I guess those are antiquated virtues the homeless can do without? God help us!


37 posted on 06/27/2017 6:57:50 AM PDT by Rockitz (This is NOT rocket science - Follow the money and you'll find the truth.)
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To: simpson96

A better idea: remove the obstacles to job creation and this poorly-disguised transfer of money scheme won’t be needed.


38 posted on 06/27/2017 7:04:40 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Le Pen: "Islamism is a totalitarian ideology that has declared war on our nation, on civilization.")
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To: simpson96

What’s wrong with bologna?

5.56mm


39 posted on 06/27/2017 7:07:20 AM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: simpson96
Benjamin Franklin:

“I am for doing good to the poor, but...I think the best way of doing good to the poor,
is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.

I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor,
the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer.

And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”


40 posted on 06/27/2017 7:09:01 AM PDT by Vlad The Inhaler (Best Long Term Prepper Tactic: Beat The Muslim Demographic Tsnami - Have Big Families)
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