I'll be honest, no thanks. But If I was on assistance like that I would  find a place to grow a garden. If not at my house, someone in my family, a friend a next door neighbor, someone! I'd rather  eat damn near for free. As I've learned you eat a lot of fruit and veggies and you don't want much of anything else. It  supplements their  food stamp allotment too.

Aren't food stamps intended to be supplementary, not primary food source?  The commodity program is similar?

I really think that it's criminal-- the way we treat the poor and the homeless in this country. There is no excuse for it, and we could do so much better.  A lot of the programs that we have in place seem to be designed more to hold people back than to help them get ahead...

i don't believe in government aid, social programs & I'm not a very good person to talk to about this. I say if you wont work you don't eat. and im not doing the callenge, i work my ass off to have the things i have. i deserve what i pay for.

Ive done pretty well with that as my motto. =D why do i have to work to feed you? when i have to feed my kids and myself?

Well abuse of the systems screws it for those that really need it. When I think of poor I think of people trying hard to find jobs and or having them but can't make ends meet. Not the guy on the corner of Niles and Union with a  sign, If he's well enough to hold a sign let it be a Dominios or Little Ceasars sign.  There will always be the poor  the Lord said. I wish to help those people. The lazy  well the Lord said once again "If a man doesn't, work a man doesn't eat.  Those guys I'm talking about  aren't working.

I had today for the entire day  a couple of handfull of nuts, a salad (made myself)   later i had some soup, whoo hoo :)

here is something i liked quoting   "I had a meeting at work today about raising awareness of what MAZON does amongst the 'Facebook Generation.' We discussed the best way to reach out to the 'future of philanthropy.' You know, all of us 18 to 24 year olds who supposedly only care about ourselves."  That is cool, great and wonderful!  I appauld you!
 

 Here is my answer to that, somewhat: I had a meeting Sunday, we discussed what we can do to help missions and missionaries, we then passed around a plate. We also were encouraged to give  funds to help inmates for little things they need, or their families. We also have given articles of  need and interest to the troops in Iraq.  We do this every week on Sunday (We call this meeting Church) We don't call it Philanthropy, we call it Taking Care of Bidness! :D

best reply i have ever seen from you john. love it...

here is the difference between helping and having your money stolen & giving to others.

I choose to donate my money, clothes, time, etc to homeless people, there is heart in that, that's truly giving, that's giving from your heart, that's a gift, that is special, that is a miracle.

the government stealing my money to give to illegal immigrants or crackheads or lazy ass mothers that have 4 kids & don't wanna work, isn't giving, isn't helping, isn't helpful to anyone, it doesn't teach those people to get some goals ... "give a man a fish feed him for a day teach him to fish feed him for life"

what happened to hard work, money earned? i don't get anything for free, but for some reason my crack head sister gets everything for free and more cause she has 2 kids. she is (i think) 32 now i am 25 and  you are supporting that. How does that make you feel? It pisses me off. I cant stand it. I haven't talked to her for about 5 years, she has no teeth and lives off Roberts lane in Tweekwood trailer Park.

 If we are there to help the people who cant help themselves, what are they for. call me mean, but its not fair, i am bitter about it. I hate it.

Wow Annie, I bet my first ex knew your sister, she lived over there too for a while, before going back home to Lamont and sadly passing away some time later. Drugs will do it to ya I tell ya.

Sistersheree Doesn't that make you mad. I hate that people that actually need help for a small period of time cant get it while the piece of crap assholes abuse it. i think the max  month of time you can use welfare is maybe 6 months at a time. things happen, i get that, but most of the time when people get something paid for FOR them they never learn. AKA spoiled brat kids.

     Well it's not  technically our government. It's big business. Those lobbyist  (hired by big business) in the past  have allowed for this so they can hire cheap labor. They know we would want more of a dollar an hour wage, or salary. So if it's anyone it's big bidness ;)  Oh and by the way these guys hire all those illegal aliens to work for them here in this country by the same means. Don't worry it won't stop. Once again natural citizens here would go out there and work a day or two and say hey, let's form a Union or picket for higher wages, it's hot out here and look at the pesticides they try to spray on us. Big business doesn't want our chin music. They will hire  cheaper labor, and because big businesses don't really care about their employees they don't mind poisoning them every once in a while, I mean come on they aren't citizens (I' sure that's probably what most of the  owners think)

Not at all, sistersheree, your comments were very relevant :)

And I would never expect you to live on a food stamp budget again after experiencing it first-hand. Joe, I think it's great that your church encourages people to give funds and assistance to others. I think that any steps taken to help others or raise awareness and educate people are positive ones! But I don't think there are "levels" of goodness; donations of money and articles of clothing are just as necessary as donations of time, energy, physical assistance, and simple kindness, and it honestly doesn't matter if it's done in the name of philanthropy, religion, or self-interest... in the end, it all benefits people who really need it.

Annie, I understand your frustration with systems like the food stamp program, and your concerns are definitely valid. As sistersheree mentioned, the system (and many, MANY others) are in great need of reform. Food stamps should be used to supplement a family - as Don said - not as a sole source of support. Unfortunately, the amount of aid that people receive is extremely minimal, especially if they do have outside incomes (after all, having a job these days doesn't actually guarantee that you make enough money to get by). When you consider the fact that many food stamp recipients have large families and many, many other expenses, it's hard to understand how the program is supposed to be truly helpful. It is designed as a safety net to help ensure people have access to food during difficult times, and the majority of people leave the program within nine months, but that's often due to the added generosity of others. Some people, unfortunately, have forgotten that our welfare system was created as a means for people to get by just until they are better able to support themselves, and so abuse of the program is fairly commonplace now.

There are several things participants in the Challenge hope to achieve. The primary goal is to raise the visibility of hunger in the United States. There are approximately 35 million people in our country for whom "food insecurity" (as the government is now calling it) is a daily reality. The challenge is an attempt to raise awareness of the difficulties faced by low income people in obtaining a healthy diet, and we want to build support for improving access to the food stamp program for people who truly need it. If you want to know more about this, you can look up information about the Farm Bill.

   I am glad that SamG recognizes that food stamps and welfare are intended only as as supplemental and temporary aids.  There are some major problems not only with the system, but raising the amount of money that people get is not the answer.  One of the answers is monitoring the people who use the state aid, and making sure they are using it for the right reasons. 

   I worked at a gas station for over a year in the southwest recently, and one of my best friends is a vendor to over 100 convenience stores in downtown and east Bakersfield.  We have seen how a vast majority of state aid recipients actually use this help.  I've helped them from behind the counter as a cashier, and my friend has seen them purchase stuff as he's working in the store.  They come into these overpriced convenience (that's why they are pricey; convenience) stores and buy crap like chips, soda, and candy, then use their EBT (welfare) cards to actually get cash back.  Then they immediately turn around and use the cash to buy alcohol and tobacco!  I asked my boss and my friend asked the store owners if that is legal, and every single one of them said "yes."  They can legally do this.  My boss said that I could not refuse that service to them if they ask for it.  So these people can turn around and buy their pint of Barton's or their 3 packs of Marlboros!  Who knows what else they buy with the cash when they leave?  You know some of them use it for their drug addiction, too.

   My tax dollars are not to be used to feed other people's addictions.  I understand tough times come, and that's why we have welfare; it pays for the basics to sustain life until you are back on your feet.  Mine and everyone else's tax dollars do not go to support their recreational desires or habits.  Our taxes should NEVER be used in a manner to support or feed addictions such as alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drugs. 

   The government needs to stop this blatant and obvious abuse right now.  Make the cards so that the cash back option is taken away.  All it would take is a phone call to the company who makes the cards.  Make the cards only work on certain foodstuffs, like the way actual food stamps used to be designated for.  You had certain stamps that could only be used for bread, certain ones for milk, etc.  Stop giving these people the capability of getting whatever they want with our money. 

   If the amount of aid that is received is in fact raised to higher levels, does anyone actually think that it will help the overall state of welfare and state aid in this Country?  Think about it;  if the people are already mooching the free money and more money is added, they are not going to be motivated to get off the system.  They just have more money to be lazy with.  What money they do get, they don't even use it wisely.  They blow at least part of it in these over priced convenience (they all are; it's for the convience)stores instead of going to discount grocery stores and actually buying food that will help their families, if they have families. 

   Raising the amount of aid received is not the answer.  There are ways to get cheap groceries.  Manny's downtown, Dollar stores, Foodmaxx, Grocery Outlet, and others offer good food at great discounts for people who don't have a good deal of money.  What the system needs to do is monitor the people on the program.  The state needs to make sure that money is being used for its intended purpose, not squandered on crap.