How far do we need to look to find people in need?

Question

http://www.youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1772
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=what+it+is+like+to+be+homeless
http://www.homesforthehomeless.com/index.asp?CID=3&PID=18
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/crimreport/index.html
http://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/2004/12/whats-it-like.html
http://www.franoutreach.org/imagine.htm

http://heartfelt-concerns.blogspot.com/

Answer 1

What people need to realize, and what I suppose your thought provoking question is getting at, is that charity begins at home... Everybody knows somebody who needs some kind of help... help which they know in their hearts they could provide... sometimes money is needed... but often times just to lend some of your time would be enough... either way it is sad that in a world of educated people, even good people, we can choose to be so blind to another persons needs. Our own friends, our own family... no matter... how often has there been a person in your life that just twenty dollars wouldn't have made such a big impact in your life... but could have made a difference in your own friends, neighbors, fellow employees day? I am not saying EVERYONE is in the position to give financially... and I am not saying I go out of my way to put money in the hands of every person standing on a street corner with his/her hand out... I have a long way to go in the not judging thing myself... because on occasion I too have looked at some of them and thought, they're just going to spend it on alcohol... but who's to say I am not going to spend it on something frivolous too... I guess we get that mentality that it is our money to spend frivolously and not someone elses to do so with... however, what's to say you couldn't drive around the corner to any dollar menu and spend $5.00 on enough food that might feed that person for the whole day... and then again I am reminded of something a priest once said when I was very young... "if the alcohol sustains that persons life long enough to find God.... (or if you are a non believer... to find whatever he/she needs to find to change their life...) then who are we to determine? I don't know how to solve world poverty, I wish I did... The issues of a hurting world have plagued me even as a child... but what I do know is this... Often we choose to be blind to the needs of others... and as my mother once told me... how can we expect things to change, when we care more about animals than we do the lives of other human beings... we take the homeless animals off the streets... and we have animal rights activists who will scream when someone wears a fur coat... when God gave us the animals for just that purpose as well as to feed us, etc... and I don't hate animals... but here we have activists who "freak out" for animals, when daily we kill our own kind (humans)... I think charity IS something we are born with in our hearts... children are often very kind and generous by nature... selfishness is taught, much as prejudice and hate... but all of these things can be "unlearned" if a person truly has a desire to change the world for the better...

In closing I would simply like to convey a story I once heard, just in case you are still struggling with the idea that one person cannot change the world... (I'm sure you can find a better version of it somewhere online)


Once a sage (wise man) came upon a beach where the sun was just rising and covered in many beautiful starfish, when he happened on a small child picking up a starfish at a time looking at it and then happily tossing it back into the ocean... the sage asked the boy..."What are you doing?"

The boy replied, "I am saving them, because as the sun rises, it will dry them out and they will die."

The sage looked around at the thousands and thousands of starfish and mused "but son there are so many and you can never save all of them, so what does it matter?"

The child picked up another starfish looked at it deeply and tossed into the ocean, at which point he looked back up at the old man, looked him in the eyes and replied..."It mattered to him!"

Caring has a ripple effect.... give it a try... it will matter to those who you have the privilege to help!

Answer 2

I know that there are people that look like they have a lot and they really don't. I have a nice home, car, but my husband got laid off a few months back and we don't have health insurance. My son needs an allergy test and probably allergy shots. We can't afford to go and get this done. I've applied for insurance through dhs for him over 2 months ago and it's still being looked at. I can't afford the medicines we need. I think we need to start with healthcare and insurance for all Americans. The drug prices are outrageous. Maybe we could start by passing out flyers around the neighborhood asking people what they need. Then they could send their response back to a main person in the organized neighborhood.

Answer 3

I agree with an earlier poster... everyone needs something, so it really all depends on what kind of need you are talking about. Two of the biggest needs in the world right now are hunger and shelter. I posted this video on one of my blogs yesterday about new age dumpster divers ( http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=3818461&blogID=141347320&MyToken=e672acaf-2850-4e1e-9733-2cf9211425a8 ) in the video they mention that 70% of all food produced for human consumption ends up in the landfill. That's unbelievable!

As for housing, it is also unbelievable how many people in our own home town have no place to call home. But there's a great group working around the world to do their best to help this.... http://www.architectureforhumanity.org

Answer 4

Hunger in the world
Number of undernourished people (million) in 2001-2003, according to the FAO, the following countries had 5 million or more undernourished people:

Country Number of Undernourished (million)
India 212.0
China 150.0
Bangladesh 43.1
Democratic Republic of Congo 37.0
Pakistan 35.2
Ethiopia 31.5
United States 22.5
Tanzania 16.1
Philippines 15.2
Brazil 14.4
Indonesia 13.8
Vietnam 13.8
Thailand 13.4
Nigeria 11.5
Kenya 9.7
Sudan 8.8
Mozambique 8.3
North Korea 7.9
Yemen 7.1
Madagascar 6.5
Colombia 5.9
Zimbabwe 5.7
Mexico 5.1
Zambia 5.1
Angola 5.0
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One third of deaths - some 18 million people a year or 50,000 per day - are due to poverty-related causes. That's 270 million people since 1990, the majority women and children, roughly equal to the population of the US.
Every year nearly 11 million children die before their fifth birthday.
800 million people go to bed hungry every night.
The three richest people in the world control more wealth than all 600 million people living in the world's poorest countries
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Answer 5

They are in our communites.
We all have ways of helping in our communities - if you can't give money or goods you can give time. All of us can make a difference - we just need to believe we can and take action.

The problems of the needy seem so huge that I think people honestly believe there is nothing they can do.

Answer 6

Depends on how open your eyes and heart are to helping the needy. There are people in need everywhere, but most people tend to overlook them because they don't want to help them or feel like they don't have enough time to help them.

Answer 7

The needy are sometimes right at your doorstep. They are everywhere you go.

Answer 8

you don't have to look far at all cause there is always someone in need of something.

Answer 9

most likely, right next door.

Answer 10

everyone is in need of something