Posted on 08/26/2005 7:09:01 AM PDT by Millee
I give money to panhandlers. It's not part of my daily routine, but every now and then, a homeless person will be in my line of sight when I'm feeling generous, and I'll hand him or her a couple of bucks.
I don't have any expectations about how the recipient will spend the money. Maybe he'll buy food. Maybe he's saving for a bus trip to another city. Maybe he'll use the money to pay for lodging. Or maybe he'll just buy booze. It doesn't matter to me. I give him money because I can see he needs it.
Last week, a study commissioned by the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District and the city's Office of Economic Development revealed that 44 percent of Denver residents are like me. Our occasional giving adds up to about $25 a year for each of us, which totals about $4.6 million a year to panhandlers.
Denver business leaders and city officials want us to stop. They say, with a straight face, that they care about panhandlers and that our impromptu donations only perpetuate the problems that beggars face. They say panhandlers need tough love if they're going to rise out of poverty. They point to the city's proposed $122 million, 10-year proposal to end homelessness, and suggest redirecting our $4.6 million a year in donations could significantly help fund this program.
With all due respect, I doubt that this study was motivated by humanitarian ideals. Business bureaus and economic development offices typically don't spend time trying to cure the complex problems of poverty, homelessness and panhandling. The objective was to figure out how to keep unattractive, malodorous, poor beggars from driving away tourists and other customers.
And I imagine their concerns are well-founded. There are many people who get nervous and/or scared when they see panhandlers, and they might avoid a shop that had a lot of beggars out front. But I'm not going to stop making my occasional donations to people on street corners.
Panhandlers play an important role in our society, because they are the visible face of poverty. The study in question focused on Denver residents, but a large percentage of middle- and upper-income families Click Here!
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Link To Article Print Article Email Article Article Last Updated: 08/25/2005 10:31:47 PM
reggie rivers Don't stop giving change to beggars By Reggie Rivers
I give money to panhandlers. It's not part of my daily routine, but every now and then, a homeless person will be in my line of sight when I'm feeling generous, and I'll hand him or her a couple of bucks.
I don't have any expectations about how the recipient will spend the money. Maybe he'll buy food. Maybe he's saving for a bus trip to another city. Maybe he'll use the money to pay for lodging. Or maybe he'll just buy booze. It doesn't matter to me. I give him money because I can see he needs it.
Last week, a study commissioned by the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District and the city's Office of Economic Development revealed that 44 percent of Denver residents are like me. Our occasional giving adds up to about $25 a year for each of us, which totals about $4.6 million a year to panhandlers.
Denver business leaders and city officials want us to stop. They say, with a straight face, that they care about panhandlers and that our impromptu donations only perpetuate the problems that beggars face. They say panhandlers need tough love if they're going to rise out of poverty. They point to the city's proposed $122 million, 10-year proposal to end homelessness, and suggest redirecting our $4.6 million a year in donations could significantly help fund this program.
With all due respect, I doubt that this study was motivated by humanitarian ideals. Business bureaus and economic development offices typically don't spend time trying to cure the complex problems of poverty, homelessness and panhandling. The objective was to figure out how to keep unattractive, malodorous, poor beggars from driving away tourists and other customers.
And I imagine their concerns are well-founded. There are many people who get nervous and/or scared when they see panhandlers, and they might avoid a shop that had a lot of beggars out front. But I'm not going to stop making my occasional donations to people on street corners.
Panhandlers play an important role in our society, because they are the visible face of poverty. The study in question focused on Denver residents, but a large percentage of middle- and upper-income families
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in the metro area live in suburban enclaves that are completely devoid of poverty. The tight restrictions of homeowner associations ensure that blight doesn't exist, and the cost of mortgages, HOA dues, assessments and mandatory repairs make it virtually impossible to maintain a home in these neighborhoods without a substantial income.
So if you live in a poverty-free area, drive on highways crowded with your peers, work in an office building full of successful people, and never see anyone on the low end of the economy, it would be easy to forget that poor people exist and that homelessness is a significant issue in Denver.
The suggestion that our $4.6 million in donations would be better spent on other programs is true, but irrelevant. I donate money to many charities, but these impromptu donations wouldn't exist if not for panhandlers. Beggars provoke impulsive contributions in the same way that tabloids near checkout counters provoke impulse buys.
Rather than asking us to boycott panhandlers, business and city leaders should think seriously about what they can do to reduce the social problems that contribute to panhandling. I don't know how much money they spent on this survey, but if their goal was to help the poor, the money could have been better spent by donating it to a program.
If you give money to panhandlers, don't stop. They're not getting rich off your donations, but they are serving a purpose. We shouldn't push the poor out of sight; we should push them out of poverty.
There's a sucker born every minute.
My favorite was: "My, oh my, you is looking spectacular this morning mama!"
But the cats smell better and can be trained to piss in a box.
Our local churches give some of the money from the collection plates to the Police Department, and church members are instructed to kindly point out to any panhandlers that there's a special fund to help people like them. It's been several years and I still have not seen anybody go to the PD to get money, but our streets are panhandler-free most of the time.
I don't feed stray animals, so ....
How muuch is a bus ticket..one way..from Frisco to Denver?
I do contribute to people like Open Door Mission, so I'm not going to be bothered by all the spare-change types all over then street. I never carry money, and never have "spare change", bit I don't feel the need to explain that to any of them.
There's a Walgreen's on Montrose Blvd (Houston's answer to Castro Street) near where I work in Houston, and bums frequently hang out there (some appear to be teenage runaways who did not do so well with the male prostitution thing). I went in there one day to pick up a prescription, and some lady was hitting up people in the parking lot. I ignored her and went in. While I'm in there, a lady customer is haranguing the poor manager of the store for allowing panhandlers out front to make her uncomfortable. Instead of chewing that guy out, why didn't she tell the drunk outside to get lost? I constantly see people ream out the proprieter of an establishment for "allowing" bums outside, but they don't dare tell the bum to take a hike.
I feel bad when I'm with my children and decline to give to a homeless guy, but I explain to them that he may buy booze or drugs with the money and I don't want to be responsible for messing him up worse. I remember once I gave money to a homeless man in NYC. He ran to the nearest wine shop.
The problem with giving money to these folks is that we become their employer. I see them every day, out in all kinds of weather like clockwork with their little cardboard signs. This shows punctuality, diligence and a keen understanding of basic marketing principles. They don't belong on the streets, they blong in offices coming up with better ads that we'll just ignore anyway.
The city of Denver can't tax this money...LOL!!!!
The Left isn't going to be happy that Rivers has unintentionally exposed one of their favorite tactics.
"I feel bad when..."
I empathize. Despite my last post, truthfully I have given money to them occasionally. But I usually give it to the guy who's curled up on a bench, not begging at all. I avoid the shambling stick-figures who buy crack and the overfed bums with the cardboard signs. Or anyone with the "homeless limp" as I like to call it.
"Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach the man to fish and he eats for a lifetime."
My point exactly.
I stopped helping out those guys when I saw one of them leave a pricy apartment in Toluca Lake. That was their residence, their employment was pan handling.
I tell them I gave at the local IRS office
I'll freepmail you my address so you can send me a check, Daddy-O. :-D
I give to the bums with the express instruction that they MUST buy booze with it.
Then maybe they will finally hit bottom.
And when they finally hit bottom, maybe they'll try Alcoholics Anonymous.
To not stop giving I'd first have to start giving to bums and that isn't going to happen.
What about the blacks in my hood that only want the money they ax for to buy booze?
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