A little Halloween sadness

[longbow51]

Among the many happy kids who showed up last night, there were a few who, obviously, really needed food. One, in particular, was pretty disheveled; we gave him tons, and his dad checked his bag as they walked away.

So, let us thank God for what we have, and remember the less fortunate. Inflation is no big deal for us; buying fancy hunting clothes, rifles, and scopes, but, to many, devastating.

Maybe give a few hundred to your local homeless mission. Do I have a solution? No, too multifactorial, and not my area of expertise. And yes, I know some are homeless by choice. Some are not.

Just sad.

 

[Dan O]

So right. We take too much for granted, we are blessed and sometimes we have no idea how good we have it.

 

[Big Fin]

Agree, it is easy to take our many blessings for granted. Thanks for the reminder.

Mrs. Fin was commenting about how much groceries are costing and how young families can make it work. I asked what could be done about it. She decided that increasing our donation to the local Food Bank was the best solution. I volunteered there twenty some years ago. It was a huge eye opener for me. Can't imagine how much more demand there is now.

 

[EastTNHunter]

I used to work grounds for a business in downtown Chattanooga. I got to know a few if the “regular” homeless people by name since I saw them every morning. One guy would carry on a conversation, and even though he was a little “off” he was still a nice guy.

One day I asked him what size clothes he wore, and that evening my wife and I went to a local thrift store and bought him 2 pair of pants (he was a really tall guy that did not wear a common size) and 2-3 shirts. Barely used stuff.

Brought the clothes to him the next morning. He was shocked and thankful. But then he did something that I did not expect… he said “I really needed these pants, but I have plenty of shirts. I know a couple of guys who could use these. Do you mind if I give them to them?” What?!?! Of course I didn’t mind, but I was floored. You just never can underestimate people and what they will do if you show them a little kindness. Some will not appreciate it and may use you, but some may surprise you and “pay it forward” to keep the kindness moving on.

 

[Hem]

Thanks Longbow.
Good reality check.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Good pre Thanksgiving thread, longbow51. The Montana Foodbank Network is a viable program to which you may donate to ensure food is distributed across the state where it is needed. A great way to produce good results from your generosity to those who are in need.

 

[KB_]

I'm going to fill you guys in on something I've only learned recently and it hits me at home in a way I never truly expected.

Many homeless have special needs. Not necessarily drug addicts or skitzo. Many are on the autism spectrum, and either didnt get any services when they were children or their services ended when they turned 18 and their parents essentially gave up. Thus putting them in a odd position to adapt and find attention else where. Which will put them in a position of being addicted to drugs and booze and have no lifeskills to cope and be a productive member of society.

There are some services for autistic people as adults but its difficult to get into and its expensive. Parents cant afford the services most of the time and they go down a path of making that individual a ward of the state. They can even get state funding to take care of themselves, but there is no real protection and things get out of control fast due to the lack of life skills.

I have a 10 year old who has autism and verbally is difficult to understand. He has been in therapy since he was 5. I dont know what this looks like in 8 years, and it scares the shit out of me in a way I cant describe.

I bring this up cause it just absolutely destroys me that when we went trick or treating monday night and people get shitty cause he wont say trick or treat with the other kids. Always keep in mind that someone elses situation may just utterly break your heart.

There will likely always be a little part of me that is not terribly patient with lazy adults who take advantage of the system and everyone around them. But kiddos who grow up in situations they didnt ask for, they need all the love they can get, and as much help as can be provided.

Rant over.....

 

[Tradewind]

On the other end of the spectrum, i had a kid lecture me (prob related to Lamb) because I did not give out full size candy bars like the guy down the block.
bite size snickers. Usually 2 per kid til I start to run low.

To the OP, we do usually have cars roll into the neighborhood from the rough areas. they stop and the kids come out and trick or treat.
I told one of th moms there is nothgin wrong with coming to a safe neighborhood and let the kids be kids w/o worrying abt safety.

 

[Redman]

We have a local butcher that will process a donated deer for free that goes to feed locals that are in need. SFC B and CPO donated a couple last year. That was generous of them and as we all know NR tags are not cheap! Hunters in my area donate tons of deer every year. I hope that it continues with the ever growing cost of living.

 

[ammo]

To the OP, we do usually have cars roll into the neighborhood from the rough areas. they stop and the kids come out and trick or treat.
I told one of th moms there is nothgin wrong with coming to a safe neighborhood and let the kids be kids w/o worrying abt safety.

THIS. I'm originally from one of the burbs outside of Detroit and I remember parents and other kids would be snarky or downright asshole-ish to kids coming in to trick or treat from the city. Some kids looked too old to be trick or treating, some kids didn't really have costumes....but come on, it's just candy and everyone deserves a safe place to be a kid on halloween.

 

[Ben Lamb]

On the other end of the spectrum, i had a kid lecture me (prob related to Lamb) because I did not give out full size candy bars like the guy down the block.
bite size snickers. Usually 2 per kid til I start to run low.

My relatives are more likely to just take all the candy and push you down while making fun of you, but nice try you cheap SOB. GIVE OUT THE GOOD STUFF!

Good post, @longbow51. It's easy to get lost in our own world, and take for granted how blessed we really are.

 

[longbow51]

To the OP, we do usually have cars roll into the neighborhood from the rough areas. they stop and the kids come out and trick or treat.
I told one of th moms there is nothgin wrong with coming to a safe neighborhood and let the kids be kids w/o worrying abt safety.

Yeah, we have that too, and always have, and that's OK, but not my point. These kids looked a little more than "rough". Our church alone gave out 70 sleeping bags and pillows to school kids without "permanent sleeping arrangements", and I know of at least one other who did the same.

Never the kids' fault.

 

[Shortbowshot]

Among the many happy kids who showed up last night, there were a few who, obviously, really needed food. One, in particular, was pretty disheveled; we gave him tons, and his dad checked his bag as they walked away.

So, let us thank God for what we have, and remember the less fortunate. Inflation is no big deal for us; buying fancy hunting clothes, rifles, and scopes, but, to many, devastating.

Maybe give a few hundred to your local homeless mission. Do I have a solution? No, too multifactorial, and not my area of expertise. And yes, I know some are homeless by choice. Some are not.

Just sad.

So true!! These kids don't get to choose their situation. We've been in foster care for 15+ years. It's tough to see these little guys go through more hardship before they're 10 than I will ever see.

 

[thomas89]

Thanks for the reality check, sir.

Always good to be humbled time to time.

Was just complaining today about how expensive groceries are and that I don’t have enough money left over to buy as much stupid sh*t as usual.

So easy to get comfortable and forget not everyone has even close to what I have.

To give you an idea of my family’s income, I grew up in government housing. One year at Christmas time, my family (my folks and us five kids) came home from somewhere and there was an envelope taped to the door with five, $100 bills in it. No note, no name, nothing. Just the money with our name on the envelope. I have no idea how much that money meant to my parents, or if it impacted the Christmas they were able to give us, maybe one of these days I should ask. But I’ve remembered it ever since.

 

[millerkiller77]

Yeah, we have that too, and always have, and that's OK, but not my point. These kids looked a little more than "rough". Our church alone gave out 70 sleeping bags and pillows to school kids without "permanent sleeping arrangements", and I know of at least one other who did the same.

Never the kids' fault.

That's really heartbreaking, Good on you for being in a position to help and actually following through.

 

[texwest44]

When I first came to Montana, I came as an AmeriCorps service member. For those who don't know AmeriCorps, think domestic version of the Peace Corps. Anyway, one of the first big events I participated in was called Doorsteps to Kid Packs. It was a city-wide event in which people would leave food donations on their porches and steps, and volunteers would come pick them up, and the food would all go into weekend food packs for kids to take home from school. It covered the entire town of Helena, it was something else.

I don't recall the tonnage of food we collected, but it seemed astounding. Several tons. I thought it would last for a long time.

Two weekends. It was only enough to feed the kids for two weekends.

Then after that heart breaker, I was doing some MLK activities with some elementary students. Coloring, writing little poems, etc. Some pretty cute stuff. Well there this one kid who just wasn't having it. Wouldn't do any of the work, wouldn't talk to the other kids, so I just asked him what's up. Not feeling ok? He told me he was too hungry to care about any of this stuff and just couldn't do it. Too hungry, his stomach hurt and he just wanted to be left alone. It was more than enough to make a grown man step out into the hallway for a minute.

I don't really have a conclusion. There's just a ton of hungry kids out there and it sucks.

 

[Nicoli7153]

Kindness and compassion are rarely misplaced

 

[HuntTalk Freak]

My wife is a high school teacher and always has at least one or two kids per year that are essentially homeless in addition to the ones that come from poor and broken homes. It’s pretty sad.