Helping the Homeless

Solving the problem of the hungry and homeless by giving the odd buck to panhandlers and solicitors who stand at the doorway to the supermarket is clearly unfeasible. And yet one must sympathize both with the beggar and the giver in these transactions. The real live person, obviously in need and yet representing a group larger than himself, is seductive. We feel connected with him (or her); we feel good. That person will eat tonight.

But there are better ways of approaching the hunger and homelessness problem in Los Angeles. One of these offers itself inside the store at the grocery counter where shoppers can purchase a piece of the solution in the form of a card for 50 cents, a dollar or a fiver. The money from the cards, labeled FOOD FOR ALL, is processed by the grocer, and goes to a central location, the headquarters of the organization FOOD FOR ALL which then distributes those funds to the legitimate hunger organizations in the community.

Fifty cents a shopping stop is a small price to pay for the certainty that one’s money will go to a legitimate agency, one that stretches the money by buying wholesale or using surplus food.

GIANNA HOCHSTEIN

Los Angeles