Posted on 12/26/2018 10:08:45 AM PST by bgill
Throughout Christmas day, people could be seen pulling up to areas known for their homeless population, handing out blankets, bags, food and drinks, all in the spirit of giving. Yet the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is urging the public not to give back like this. Officials are telling people to donate to shelters and help serve food through organizations such as Catholic Charities, The Salvation Army and the Las Vegas Rescue Mission. In fact, during the Thanksgiving holiday, LVMPD issued several citations carrying a $1,000 fine for people who pulled over and fed the homeless. City officials say they know people mean well, but it’s better to donate in a controlled environment. They say there’s health and safety concerns for these people on the streets, and they say that sometimes there are even fights over donations. For Christmas, News 3 caught up with Rosie Berney and her husband, who say they wanted to spend their holiday in service. They say that they don’t think they should have to go through any organization to do so.
(Excerpt) Read more at news3lv.com ...
Police cautioned that if You feed them they will lose their fear of humans. Oh wait. Nevermind.
How do you get less of something? Tax it.
How do you get more of something? Subsidize it.
Inner city bleeding heart liberals just can’t grasp the fact that handing these folks money, food or supplies only extends their meager existence under the bridge...
But they get to feel like they’re a good person for a few minutes - at least until they forget they did it, so they can do it again.
Good points.
Giving a homeless person food is just a short lived Bandaid to their real problem, which may be mental disease.
The exchange is actually an acceptable form of prostitution. The gifting party who parts with an insignificant amount of money receives effortless addictive compassion as the drug of choice rather than sexual entertainment.
Bummery.
Don’t feed the dolphins or the bums. You render them dependent on handouts and unable to catch their natural food in the wild.
When you get right down to it the liberals would prefer that these people stay under the bridge and out of the “nice” neighborhoods, just sol long as they can be dragged out to vote when appropriate.
“Give back”?
I give up.
Rewarding the homeless with charity has helped turn California into an open air camp for drug addicts, the mentally ill, and criminals.
Fining sounds like an excellent idea. In my area, I see people quite often giving money to the homeless at parking lot exits. They have a misplaced sense of how to help the homeless. They would be surprised to see what their dollar is really buying for that person — drugs, booze, prostitutes, etc. Donate to the charities, not directly to the freeloaders who are already getting all the food they need for free. They use it for what the charities won’t provide.
The organizers knew what they were doing and had everything arranged to keep the crowds moving along. They said they had been doing this every year in Denver for the last ten years . They had tables set up along the sidewalks and the grill at the end of the walkways on the south side of the park. The homeless people were gathered at the north side of the park, behind taped barriers until the table preparations could be completed. People seemed to know what to expect.
There was a small contingent from the Denver Police Department on hand, but I never saw them called upon. The organizers all wore lime-green-yellow vests which made them quite visible as they moved around the rest of the volunteers preparing the clothing tables.
One of the odd things they brought was a hundred moving boxes and plastic liners. An organizer explained to me that this was for trash collection. Homeless people would receive new socks, hats, even shoes, and coats. They would promptly discard worn out clothing (and other items) in the park. We did not want to leave a mess, so we helped set up the boxes as extra trash cans in the park.
I saw plenty of trash already in that park, including worn and torn clothes - and empty miniature bottles of booze. I would like to think it was cleaner after the event then it was before the event.
Volunteers came from dozens of local Church groups and various unaffiliated people who just showed up (including me).
News reporters estimated that about 900 homeless people showed up for the event. I thought there were closer to 1500 when I looked through crowd pictures later.
The homeless people appeared to be 95% men, mostly in their 20's and 30's, with a smaller proportion of older men in their 50's and 60's. The younger men were mostly White, and the older men seemed evenly divided between White and Black men. I did not get a close enough look at any women in the lines to have much impression of them except there weren't very many.
There were lot more volunteers than needed to run the tables, so I left early.
I sometime go buy two cases of cheap whisky or vodka and pass them out to them
Christmas cheer
I’m not there to save them or the world
A little joy
Makes sense to me
From my pickup
Never once had an issue just gratitude
I didn’t this year
We have a massive hobo jungle behind Wal Mart near one of my properties
You can see the campfires on the hillside at night
I just pull an say Merry Christmas and hand it out and I don’t linger
I’ve done it New Year’s Eve in the French Quarter too
As I rounded the on-ramp to get on the freeway, I saw that same women make a beeline for the liquor store in the strip mall at the intersection.
I had to laugh at myself rather than be outraged. I certainly should have known better. I haven't given money to beggars since.
I saw that same women make a beeline for the liquor store...
______________
You made her day. At least you found out the truth. The lesson wasn’t that expensive and will save you money in the future.
I saw a woman yesterday trying to help a homeless woman out of the street and onto the sidewalk. The homeless woman smacked the do-gooder in the head with her bag. I thought “hmmm....potential conservative in the making?”
Just had someone ask me to buy him a hot dog at the gas station. I looked him in the eye and asked him, “Why would I do that?” He shrugged his shoulders and went on to the next target.
Yeah that happened to me too. A woman had asked me at an intersection for formula money, so I was generous. I ended up having to do a u-turn, and saw her handing the money to a man through his car window. I assume it was a drug deal.
My elderly parents were approached at a stop sign and they gave the guy a few dollars. He saw more money in my moms purse and demanded more in an aggressive way and they handed it over. I particularly hate people who prey on elderly or the mentally challenged.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.