2.09.2010

Car Preparedness and Helping Others


This is a fantastic idea from my sister, Vickie:

"One of the things that was always difficult for me was the homeless people on the corner. I've never liked the idea of giving money, but still wanted to do something. I love it when I see someone after a trip to the grocery store because then I can pass out a box of cereal or some fruit. This was nice if the food was in the car, but what about the times when the food wasn't there.

"Well, my husband went on a business trip this summer. He was living in a hotel for a few days and purchased some soup to microwave. He ended up not eating all of it and then just left it in his car. Then the next time he saw a person asking for food/money on the side of the road, he gave them some soup. Ever since then we have kept a few cans of non-condensed soup with pop lids in the car. They can be eaten straight out of the can - hot or cold. This has served two purposes, obviously we can now be charitable to those in need. But it's also comforting to have some food in the car if there was ever an emergency. As you know, those pop-lid cans don't withstand extremes in temperature, etc. We see people in need often enough that I haven't had anything in my car too long."

2 comments:

foodstr2 said...

Giving the homeless FOOD is a GREAT idea. Giving them cash enables them to buy drugs or alcohol.

Way to go!

Bruce
http://www.internet-grocer.net

Anonymous said...

Good idea. I did this when we were in California and offered the lady asking for $$ some canned soup from my 72 hour kit in my car. She was insulted and told me she wanted cash. I offered to drive her to the food bank, but she stalked off. Later we found out that she was a regular mom who did this as a "job". She had a husband, kids in school, an apartment to live in, the whole 9 yards! How many people have given $$ to such people using it as a tax free way to earn money?

mom in AZ