Panhandling At Christmas

Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.

 

Why is it at Christmas time -- and mainly at Christmas --  people always think of helping others?  However, some people need help all year.   Why is it at Christmas time the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other organizations visit rest homes to sing and visit but not other times of the year.  That last question was one a worker asked me many years ago as I went with my Brownie and Cub Scout troops on a Christmas Caroling outing to a rest home.. 

Other changes occur this time of year.  You see it on the street corners. Even some of the panhandlers change their signs to capture the sympathy of drivers.  We have seen a few asking for money for Christmas gifts for their children.  Did we donate?  We did. Should we have? Probably not.

The other day as we took the ramp off the freeway there was another couple asking for more help.  The woman was in a wheelchair and very definitely handicapped.  The man standing by her was the individual collecting the funds.  Did we donate?  We did. Should we have?  Probably not.

 

Everyone knows that some of the panhandlers are probably very needy.  In the same breathe everyone knows that some of the panhandlers aren’t.  Panhandling is their job.  It is what they choose to do.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to tell the difference?  I recently read a blog with instructions on how to panhandle.  On the blog was a clip from a segment on TV about Freeloading.  According to this most panhandlers are freeloaders.  Contributing to panhandling encourages it.  Most panhandlers aren’t needy.  Most have just chosen this as their lifestyle.  The article is interesting and the video clip is too.

I also read about one lady who made a sign indicating she had four children and needed Christmas money because their house burned down.  That sign brought her close to $100 an hour panhandling. We saw a couple kids along with their mother on a corner today.  They were holding a sign indicating they were a family of 7 and were homeless.   Fact or Fiction?

If you drive by the Love’s Station in Quartzsite you will see a van parked at the corner.  The sign on the van says gas money is needed.   We are guessing his gas money sign catches many passer-bys because he’s at the edge of the freeway …. but he’s there every day.  How much gas money is he trying to collect?   Is he trying to get someplace for the holidays?

It’s not just Christmas.  What about the ads on TV asking for contributions to help abused animals or injured warriors?  Don't most of the funds collected go to keep the folks doing the advertising working and only smidgens go where you intend it to go?  Isn’t it better to contribute to local organizations including your local human society and food banks? 

Some signs ask for work, food or money but offer a job and you will probably be refused. Offer food and it may be thrown back at you.  It’s nice to help others when you can.  However, maybe the dollars we give do more good when given to organizations helping the hungry and homeless instead of handing it directly to the people on the street. 

It doesn’t stop there.  At Christmas time many families are put on a list by well-meaning organizations for others to adopt for Christmas. The idea is they give you the name of a needy family.  You shop for that family and drop the gifts back to the organization to deliver.  You really aren’t supposed to deliver them to the family yourself.  

Several years ago the department I was working in adopted one of these families.  It was a rather large family and our group went way overboard  to provide a spectacular Christmas for each member of that family plus items for a special Christmas dinner. After our shopping we chose to deliver the gifts to the family instead dropping them off at the referral organization.  The organization that referred us allowed us to do that because they were very busy and it was so close to Christmas.  The family lived in a housing development in the center of Dallas.  What we expected is not what we found. We wondered just how many lists they were on.  Their toys, clothing, furniture, stereos, TVs and computers even out-paced some of us.  This family had just about everything even before we arrived.  It was the last year we adopted a family.  Our intentions were good but we felt we had been duped. 

We know there are children who get so little in the way of Christmas gifts .  We know people are going hungry.    What is the answer or is there one?   Sabrina spent her last day off working in a community outreach program aka soup kitchen. Several hundred people were served food and gifts were given to children.  She said many of these people come back each year and the lines just get longer.   The difference is these folks are being provided warm food.

Sabrina is a pastor’s assistant at her church.  She said it is amazing how many calls she gets on a daily basis from people asking for help.  Her church provides meals for some, gifts for others and help for even more but donations to them aren’t given without checking out the situation first.  There are some who contact the church wanting only cash.  They don’t want work.  They don’t want food. 

Christmas is definitely the time of year people reach out to help others more than at other times.  Wouldn’t it be nice to know that the ones you help really are the ones who are actually in need?  Some towns have gotten involved in trying to move panhandlers off the street by providing special meters for donations.  Panhandlers come out in droves at Christmas time because people tend to be more in the giving spirit.  However, my guess is the panhandlers on the street aren’t being helped in the way you think you are helping them.

Merry Christmas …..