Charity starts at home
I wish I had the money to help. People are always asking for money to save the children in Africa, India, the Philippines, but I rarely hear people ask for money for people in Canada, or even in my own home town. Sure, I'd be happy to help orphans in Romania, but what about the people freezing the butts off in -50 winter weather. In canada, if you're homeless the winter could be the death of you. To me that's sad. So if I had the money, and maybe one day I'll have the money, I'd do this:
Homeless kits!
In each bag, there is...
-deodorant
-a 50$ gift certificate (one of those visa, reload able things) to use wherever.
-long underwear
-a sweater
-a disposable cell phone
-a pre paid phone card for a month
Why?
Why these items you say? Well I'll tell you a story.
Once upon a time there lived a girl who lived at home with her mom. Her mom got mad because the girl was hanging out with "the wrong kind of people". They had a fight and now the girl has nowhere to go. She couch surfs from place to place, but has no real address or phone number so employers can't get a hold of her.
Because they can't get a hold of her she can't get a job.
With no job she has no money.
With no money she can't help pay for rent, she can't buy food or cloths.
Now her friends, even though they know the situation with her and her mom, think of her as a mooch and refuse to let her stay with them. Now she is sleeping on the street.
She has no home, no job, no food, and worst, winter is coming. All she has in this world is the cloths on her back and whatever money she can get from asking strangers.
You can always depend on the kindness of strangers.
Back when I have money to spare(or so I thought) and I went walking downtown, if someone would ask if I had change to spare, I'd help them out with whatever I had in my pocket(that I knew I could actually spare). One day after walking home from work. No immediate expenses coming up in the near future a man asked if I had any money to spare so he could buy something from the coffee shop across the street. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a 20.
"It's all yours!" I smiled at him and walked on my way. That man said thank you quite a few times and I hope he spent the money wisely.
But Nameless hipster! What if they spend that money on booze! Or drugs! You're just giving your hard earned dollars into there hand to feed there habit! You might not be helping them at all!
I give them the money and respect they deserve as a human being. Whatever they do with the money after that is up to them. It's there life, not mine.
But why the deodorant?
Everyone I've ever known who is or was homeless (and that's actually quite a few people now that I think about it) has carried deodorant, body spray, and anything else that will mask the fact that they have not showered in quite some time.
So there you have it. My small dream, that could be a good idea in the future, when I have the money.
Nameless hipster girl
