Help the Homeless: True Story

What will you do?

Dearest readers,

I thought today I'd share with you my personal experience with a homeless.I was in the CBD the other day and I saw a homeless man sitting in a corner next to Flinder St Lane. He had barely any clothes on and was covered in a thin layer of meshy-fabric and old torn through shoes. Next to him was a small coin holder and a cardboard poster that said in incorrect spelling: "Please Help Me. I'm hungry." I was furious that nobody was paying attention to him. Workers/buisnessman walked past him like he was a fly or some insignificant human being. Others made it more obvious that they wanted nothing to do with this man by walking away from him or staring at him with disgust. He smelt very unhygenic but that was no reason for people to be walking away when a man needed help.

I was absolutely disugsted seeing these men and women parading around in their fancy suits and yet wouldn't spare the second to donate or help him. Sure, all of our lives are hectic and busy but show a little initiative right? At school we're always being taught about taking initiative and helping the needy and everybody agrees in theory, but in practise--it's a whole other story.

So you might have asked, what did I do? I couldn't give him a $1000 or buy him a full course meal but I felt extremely guilty just idly watching him. I had three options at that point:

a) Ignore him.
b) Walk towards him and  stare pity but continue walking.
d) Do something


I looked in my purse and found I still had $10. I thought about just handing him the $10 and walking away but I wanted to show him that I did care for his needs. So I walked into McDonalds and bought a double cheeseburger ($4) and then went to a small shop adjacent McDonalds and bought him a pair of socks ($3). I came back and walked up to him. He didn't look up. I don't think he was expecting anything. His coin holder was empty, save for a few 20c pieces. I dropped the remaning $3 in and handed him the cheeseburger and socks.

His face was a picture. He didn't say anything but I could tell from his eyes what he was feeling. I walked home that day feeling prouder than I ever was. No A+ test would have made me feel like that. I felt like I had saved someone that day.

The next day I walked past him again. He was still a homeless and I still felt bad but at least he had something to eat that day and well, he was wearing the socks I had bought him.
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Things like this happen everyday. Homeless people are being disregarded all the time and it's a big issue that needs to be solved. It doesn't make you weird if you help a homeless in any way. It makes you powerful.
Check out: www.salvationarmy.org.au, www.streetsmartaustralia.org, www.homeless.org.au for more ways you can help!