Open letter to fund raisers
An open letter to the Mercy Corp/Greenpeace/Save The Children fund raisers who stalk downtown corners:
I have to say I admire you for standing on the corners trying to get people to listen to you while you attempt to raise money for a worthy cause. I couldn’t do it. I can’t handle constant rejection. I see you every day and mostly you are respectful when people either walk past or say no. There once was an occurrence where another fund raiser harassed us and we engaged him and his company and he no longer works the corners.
I have a suggestion for you and your team members. When taking a break in Pioneer Courthouse Square, I would suggest you only have your water balloon fights amongst each other. While I didn’t mind getting sprinkled a little on a hot day like today, I don’t think the others who got the brunt of the balloon were too appreciative. Also, saying, “oops, uh sorry,” just doesn’t cut it, especially if everyone in your group is laughing like hyenas that they and I got hit instead of one of you.
Please be a little more aware of your surroundings. Those are the people who you want to give you money and listen to your spiel.
As if these people weren’t already annoying. Water balloon fights??
I hate walking through downtown in the summer when they camp out on almost every corner. I just want to walk unmolested without being asked to sign an initiative or give money to someone or some organization.
Ah, much better.
This has been a bit of a problem in NW lately… especially out front of Trader Joe’s.. sometimes there is PGE, Street Roots, Street Musicians and some other random cause all vying for the attention of everyone who happens to walk up glisan. casino posted an article about on publicpress: http://publicpress.org/alchemy/entity?action=showEntity&id=5998
I’ll take it a little further. If you need charitable organizational funds hook up with a legitimate charity organization that can allow tax deductions for contributions and solicits support through employer support or direct mail.
If you’re just out there begging for money for yourself, please stop it. I’ve worked hard to take of myself and my family over the years and I don’t have a lot of money. I am offended when someone approaches me anywhere, but especially our beautiful downtown, to ask me to give them cash. I would not consider asking any of you for money if I were not working because I chose not to work. Including options for manual labor.
And I also doubt that any of you would volunteer to support me if I made a plea that you owe it to me because I got addicted to a drug or went a litle bonky in my head. Or would you? Would you drop several thousand a month on top of taxes to make sure all the street people are offered your life style. Just a question.
Yeah, I didn’t want my post to come of as hate towards petition gatherers or fund raisers in general. They have a purpose and they too are trying to make a buck in this world. But when they throw water balloons at me, then…I get a little pissy.
Also, apologies for the delays in your comments. Our spam filter put them in quarantine due to the words casino and drugs. Cheerio.
An Open Comment to Lady:
Please don’t confuse non-profit fundraisers who stand on the corner for a few hours (and then go home to their condos/apartments/parents’ basement) with people who live on the streets.
Many of the second group have mental illness(es), drug problems, histories of being abused, extreme medical crises, etc. Being homeless is not a picnic where nice people throw money at you while you live on Easy Street. You can’t possibly know the reason why anyone is homeless and you most certainly should regard your fellow human beings with a little more empathy. You don’t have to give them money, it’s a free world. But don’t be an ass who assumes every homeless person is a freeloader.
P.S. The number of homeless military veterans continues to rise.
Hula,
Thanks for engaging. Your comment was moderated because you used the word d r u g. sorry.
Yeah, while I get tired of the constant barrage of begging, I try to keep it in my mind that some people don’t have the choice. I am grateful every day for the life I have.
I recently listened to a podcast by Barak Obama and was moved by his willingness to call out America for its lack of respect for military veterans. I hadn’t ever heard a candidate or elected politician call Americans out on the truth. It was a breath of fresh air for a change. We as a nation need to do better at taking care of our soldiers if we’re going to start these wars as we keep doing. And I use the collective WE since a majority of the nation at the time supported going to war.
Exactly. And, honestly, whether or not you support the war there is no argument for not taking care of our soldiers. We have the $12 billion PER MONTH that it takes to sustain the war, yet we can’t afford to help the people who come home from fighting the war (that’s assuming they make it home).
Agreed hula! Its a reflection of our current state of society… If it can still be said that we can be judged by how we treat our worst-off, then we are truly in trouble. It constantly surprises and saddens me that the bulk of the panhandlers and roadside sign-holders I see are Veterans. I hope for a social movement in which we look in the mirror and reassess what type of society we are building (and shoving down other’s throats). As unlikely as such a movement now seems, the felicity provided by sharing some coins or a dollar is not going to change the root cause.
I agree with the above in regards to the homeless vets and the mentally ill that inhabit our city streets. However, the OSPIRGs, Greenpeace, initiative signature gatherers, etc. are really ANNOYING. I’m incredibly sick of intitiatives anyway–see Measures 5, 36, and 37.
I agree with the above comments in regards to the homeless vets and the mentally ill that inhabit our city streets. However, the OSPIRGs, Greenpeace, initiative signature gatherers, etc. are really ANNOYING. I’m incredibly sick of intitiatives anyway–see Measures 5, 36, and 37.
It is frustrating to be out running a job-related errand and have to run the barrage of people begging me for money/time/attention/support for their cause/whatever. I would argue that the fact that I’m carrying only a bank deposit bag should clue some people in to the fact that I’m *on the job* and they should not expect anything of me. It approaches aggravating when I pass the same person on the way back to the office and they can’t even remember that I already told them “no, sorry” just 4 minutes ago. I don’t really look like everyone else. And I sure as heck don’t need to be given a hard time about the fact that I turn them down.
Bad enough the panhandlers get verbally abusive over the fact that I don’t carry cash (none of their business that I wouldn’t give them any if I did).
So, since I’ve been a downtown worker for a long time, and being a person who likes to walk around during my lunch hour, I too grew weary of all the approaches. I can’t give to every person that asks, and I don’t feel qualified to sort out who is “worthy” and who is not. And I donate all my charity money through agencies and church. So, what to do?
One word: Headphones.
No one asks me any more.