"Every Little Bit Helps"

Today I was in line at the Mc Donald's drive thru (yes, you heard me correctly) and something happened that ignited an issue about which I feel very strongly, but often neglect to think of due to the sheer hopelessness of the situation. The issue is homelessnes in America. And the situation that sparked this blog entry is one that is probably manifesting itself as we speak in countless Mc Donalds parking lots across the nation.

I was sitting in my car waiting for my turn at the order menu, silently observing my surroundings. A shoddy looking man in his mid 40s appeared near the driver's side window of an SUV. The vagrant pleaded some unknown case to the man in the SUV, and when said appeal was denied, the vagrant then drifted toward my car. Fearing not this tattered outcast, I rolled down the window. "Can you spare some change?" he begged. "I used most of my change for the tolls today, but have some pennies" I responded. Then he gladly thanked me for my donation of what amounted to all of 23 pennies and said "every little bit helps." Acknowledging the tremendous ease with which I was able to positively impact someone's life while at the same time fulfilling my own humanitarian needs, I began to wonder: why are people so reluctant to follow suit?

About a year ago I read an article in the newspaper that detailed the direness local homeless shelters were experiencing as a result of home foreclosures and increased food and gas prices. The story featured a shelter in the St. Petersburg area that allegedly had ONE CAN of food left on its shelves! Upon hearing this I immeditatley contacted a local shelter and organized a food drive at my office. I was sure the food drive would be a sweeping success; after all, my office employs roughly 75 people--many of whom enjoy decent salaries. Besides, the idea of the food drive is that it gives people a chace to unload all of the unwanted lima beans and pickeled beets that have been plaguing their pantries, right? Wrong. During a span of two months, seven people (myself included) contributed.

After the first few weeks of empty donation barrels, I began to wonder if people had simply forgotton about the food drive. So I began to ask around, and received a barage of excuses ranging from "I'd rather feed stray cats and dogs" to "I've never asked for a handout when I've been in need, so why should other people?". The latter of the two responses is the most commonly uttered, coupled with the ever popular "why can't those scumbags go out and work like the rest of us."

Now, I could spend all day writing about the history of the homeless epidemic and how the problem should be solved, but instead I want to impress upon my readers the simple notion that one small act of human kindness can have reverberations far surpassing those which were ever achieved by saying no. And if everybody practiced this behavior... (you see where I'm going with this). Bottom line: what kind of impact does Kristen Burk's donation of 23 pennies (or hell, even $5.00) have on Kristen Burk's financial situation? NONE! What kind of impact does that donation have on a recipient whose shoes come from the dumpster and whose main source of nutrition is Pabst Blue Ribbon? HUGE! Even if he is using his donations for booze.

Hey, you never know, you could be homeless next week too.


Check out this website for info on how to donate to or volunteer for one of Tampa Bay's most noteworthy homeless shelters, Metropolitan Ministries: http://www.metromin.org/