Am I annoyed or sympathetic?

[KristyHall]

One thing food banks really need is baby formula. that stuff is very expensive, and for young mothers who need it for their children who can't breast feed, it's a huge relief to get help in that area. I have vowed that when I get in a better financial position I will start donating that to local food banks on a regular basis

 

[gryeyes]

I would, if I were in that area, seeing that plea on CL, probably make arrangements to donate those items on the list I felt were necessary. Somebody else can provide the things I might think were a bit over the top.

I remember when I left my first husband and rented a room in a house parceled out into several room renters. Shared bathroom. No hot plates allowed in the room. Just a little apartment sized fridge. I was on FS too, back then. Where the heck was I gonna cook any real food??

And then just during 2009/10, when the state had all state employees on three furlough days a month.... for 18 months. That was freakin' TOUGH. I lived on Top Ramen and hot dogs, with the occasional hard boiled egg and chopped green onions added to it. (This was BC, Before Chickens.) Made too much for FS, but that was okay. Some of my co-workers began to frequent food banks because they didn't have the stomach for Ramen noodles day after day. Plus, some of 'em had kids.

So, anyway. Some folks don't meet adversity very well. I know I spent some of my money for clumping cat litter, because it works so much better than the other stuff. <*shrugging*>

Everybody has standards, some of them are just much higher than others. There are people with whom I worked who are annoyed because times were tough when they were raising kids; it's almost as if they don't recognize the level of adversity experienced by others, because it's not "as bad" as they have experienced. Your bad may be much worse than mine, or less.

Charity shouldn't have strings attached.

 

[GarlicEater]

I've BEEN one of those people asking for charity, and by that I mean, begging.

I don't smoke or do drugs. I drink a little beer, a very little beer during that period of my life in 2008.

If you are broke you need to QUIT the sodas, the cigarettes, the junky foods and look for the most bang for the buck nutrition and health wise.

If you don't have access to a kitchen or a safe place to keep food stored, you can often do better eating "fast food" but you have to be selective - "fast food" can also be luncheon meat, cheese, milk, baked chicken, etc at the supermarket. When I was really poor before and during college, I hardly ate "fast food" as it's normally defined, at all. Instead, I'd get some cheese and bread, or baked chicken, or something at the supermarket and eat that.

When I was, frankly, begging, I used to astound people by turning down offers of cigarettes. I don't smoke. Likewise with offers of a beer. As mentioned I drink a little, but not when I'm working or somehow getting my daily living.

If I'm asking "the public" for money (And Lord let me never be in that situation again) they sure have a right to know what their money is going to be spent on. There's a fine but definite line between asking for money for basic survival and using it for that, and asking for money for basic survival and then turning around and using it for vodka and cigs.

 

[GarlicEater]

Quote:
Bingo. I've been on FS as a kid, and later as an adult after the economic crunch got me, the "friend" I stayed with for a year required that I get FS, all the Republicans get 'em, horray for self-sufficiency, eh? Anyway, I feel FS ought to be more like WIC, you get basic stuff to keep your body fed, period. Frankly, and this is perverse, I've bought sushi with FS. You can (I haven't) buy microwave pizza with FS, soda by the case, etc.

Ultimately I don't like FS, and rank taking Food Stamps BELOW panhandling, because it's non-consensual. When I was asking for spare change, it was up to each individual to give or not give, or tell me to go to hell. In each case I gave them a thank you, and moved on. FS is taken from taxes, themselves non-consensual, and a panhandler takes FAR less from the public, than a FS receiver.

On treats: The only ice cream I'll eat is Haagen-Dasz. I used to be less picky until I left a tub of Dreyer's/Breyer's on my kitchen counter in Scottsdale during summer, for a week. With no A/C. I came back expecting it to be mush, instead it was a substance like Styrofoam. So it's $5 a pint Haagen-Dasz for me! But, I only eat a pint a year, if that. I think I last had my pint of Coffee flavor in 2007? Yeah I'll collect cans and pay may way for that.

 

[GarlicEater]

Quote:
Oh I wish they would! I have been in that postition before (having FS) especially the fruit and veg is very unafordable when you are on FS. I tended to buy only the cheapest (and unfortunatly the most fattening) foods I could find. and the Wic program? dont get me started!
DIL was on that while preggers and the restrictions were rediculous! Bread...could only be whole wheat, certain brand stuff,smallest loaf available and the most expensive on the shelf! Milk was no fat, (blah) plus the coupons were set up so you had to buy everything on the coupon..didnt matter you already had a 1/2 dozen eggs or a gallon of milk in the fridge if you wanted cheese you buy the lot or waste that coupon

Food banks here.....Hmmm ramon noodles, cans of pasta sauce and pasta, rice, maybe 1 can of fruit and 1 of veg ....nothing fresh and no meat or bread, eggs or milk. If I had all the staples ( flour, sugar, milk, eggs, etc) I could have made so much more.......Its harder than you think! No I wasnt or am a drug addict....just in a bad situation with no job and no food and getting evicted every 6 months cause you cant pay the rent. Not a nice feeling..nor was it having to apply in the first place and not being of any other race but white and having them real close to calling you a lier...and then taking them away because you actually complied with the rules and notified them of address changes and part time jobs etc...one worker actually said to me " so how are you affording the rent you stated?" I told her I was getting evicted within the month and hadnt paid the landlord in 2 months...she still took them away because in her reasoning...if you can afford rent you can afford food.

So please guys ...dont be too hard on people wanting help with food...even when I was getting food stamps I would still made breakfast/lunch for 3 homeless guys next door at the handy mart. I too have offered food and bottles of water to people standing in the heat with signs at highway exits...accepted gratefully. only once was it rejected..guy with "will work for food" sign....I told him to meet me at the dairy queen 1 block down and he said no LOL (I was working at the time as a taxi driver) ....fine..go hungry then ....but yeah...some coffee would have been a nice change ..anything to break the monotiny (sp) of the stuff you have to buy to stretch out $100 a month for food

OK so.... when I was really poor, doing the college thing (scam!) I hardly ate veggies, sad.

I have had no idea it could be like this.

Oh, if I'd only known about Dumpster diving and panhandling, I could have eaten so much better!

Yeah, and being white, you just have to buckle down and settle for less, in exchange for working harder.

All I can say is: Learn to be self-sufficient, when the system crashes, live your life so that you'll hardly notice.

 

[dreamer4217]

you know if I had to beg for food I don't think I would be asking for soda I think I would be happy with what ever some one gave me. It doesn't matter what it is I grew up poor and my grandma could make just about anything taste good She is awesome like that. I understand needed things that go in the microwave I don't have a working stove and so there is only some things I can cook at my place but I would be fine if they were asking for things that go in the microwave but asking for cretin things while your hungry NO beggars cant be choosers. I'm in a kinda hard place right now and felt bad the other day when my Aunt bought me some soda knowing I was out. just the fact that she brought it to me made me feel like crap and I didn't ask for it. She just loves me so got it for me. I understand being down on your luck but some of those things I can't afford I use store brand tp and store brand wipes or on sale depends on whats cheapest I can't afford name brand. Just my opinion and every one knows the old saying "opinions are like But holes every one has one and most of the time they stink"

 

[newchknmama]

Quote:
I have to agree with you 100%. I work retail, in a very high FS area where 70% of the people that shop at our store are on govt assistance whether it be WIC or FS. They flash around their fancy cell phones, their keys to their big expensive rigs, the wear more makeup than I have ever thought of wearing, jewlery, buy the candy for Easter/Christmas/Halloween, Steaks, Lobster, seafood. I work VERY hard for what I have. I have 5 kids and my husband and I sacrifice time with each other so we can both work opposite shifts and raise our children ourselves. Am I against FS.. no.. I have friends that use them responisbly. WIC is a great program, highly regulated, very strict, and helps a lot of deserving people out. It does bother me though when they are given 6 or 10 bucks worth of fruits and vegetables and only leave with 2 bucks worth of bananas. they dont even spend the little amount they are given for fresh foods. Do I get upset at people misusing their FS? You bet I do. Would I rather see them buying real foods, vegetables, anything but a stack of Hungry man. You bet I would. Do I totally blame them? No.. its a huge circle. The government subsidises factoy farms and GMO foods and allow them to mass produce the worst foods out there making them more affordible than fresh foods. They are cheaper and more addictive. People are uneducated about it, they eat it and today people are more unhealthy than ever and that does nothing but drive health care costs up so high that I can barely afford medical care for my children and myself. It drives me insane when I even start thinking about all the problems out there. I really wish FS were more regulated. I wish people wre more educated, Iam sad for this country at times and have been really trying to become a little more self sufficient than before and making more informed decisions aobut where my food comes from. Its been a journey, Ill admit a year and a half ago I didnt really know how to cook. And i think a lot of people are the same way.. they dont know how to cook anymore.. Just tonight I had a customer tell me he was a good cook as long as he had a microwave or oven, as I put his purchases of frozen desert pies, hungryman dinners and bags of ready to go pasta meals in a bag. Not a single fruit, bread, vegetable or "plain meat". All paid for with his food stamp card. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer.. but Education is key in the entire process.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

Well, I've figured out how I feel. I feel sympathetic to the situation, I HAVE been there, and know how scary it is to have your fridge and cupboards empty. If I lived closer to these folks (I live over an hour and a half away) I would bring them eggs (we're broke right now too)... but I am annoyed by the specific requests that seem (to me) unnecessary. If you're broke and could use food, fine. your neighbors will probably be pleased to be able to help... but when you dictate a shopping list, and put it on CL, i find that a bit pushy. and as far as FS being able to determine what you should buy, i do see both sides... but I've been there, and stayed on the non-junk side... I hope these people get what they NEED.

 

[WingingIt]

I was going to make the point that someone else did. Yes, giving out powdered milk, flour, dried beans, lentils and basics (like at a food bank) could go a long way in feeding a person/family, provided they know how to use them to cook and make things. So many don't, though. We have a food bank at church and people are not interested in powdered milk and flour, they just have no idea the things you can do with them! They'll tell you not to give it to them because they'll just throw it away or bring it back. I've explained that you can use the milk instead of the 'regular drinking milk' when baking to save money, but then I get told the only baking they do is the brownie mixes where you add eggs and oil. We're working on putting together some easy cooking classes to try and teach easy things to cook to stretch your money, but so many are in that same place, they just never learned how to cook from scratch.

As for the ad, I'd offer up what I can provide out of our stock, some of which would be different than some of her list - eggs, different cereals, different coffee brand and not instant, frozen veggies, generic paper towels, meat (repackaged by me, though, because I buy in bulk). Then it would be up to them whether it's accepted or not. If they are out, I imagine they'd say yes and deal with a different brand of coffee for a while, you know?

 

[mom'sfolly]

I volunteer at my local food pantry. They can only give out food to families once a month. Yes, they give out a lot of food, but certainly not a month's worth. The food is fairly boring, most veggies are canned, and there is a lot of tuna, peanut butter and beans. They also have gardens and grew 5000 pounds of fresh food last year. This doesn't go far with 1200 clients per month.

Yes begging for specifics is a little shocking, as is asking for soda, but I don't know anything about these people, their circumstances and the rest of it. I would be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I would also be unlikely to fulfill a begging request on CL.