IF you go downtown Vancouver or live there, you will come across lots of homeless kids, mostly white. They are HURTING and the least we can do is not look down on them; instead, buy them some food or a hot cup of tea or coffee or milk, or even give them some warm clothes.
Don’t hesitate to give them a few dollars. Many cheap people try to weasel out of this by arguing that the kids will buy drugs or smokes. Don’t judge them – just give them the money and bring some joy to them. Or, as I said earlier, buy them a pizza or a hot drink or whatever.
Of course, we should also help out the adult homeless and less unfortunate ones. Most of them are not freeloaders. Many of them have mental problems and others have made mistakes and got hooked on drugs.
Many South Asian families and individuals as well as organizations have been giving free food and clothes to the homeless downtown Vancouver and even in Surrey and elsewhere; some don’t even bother to publicize it.
Others have been donating to the food banks to help out less fortunate individuals and families.
Don’t just do it during this holiday season – do it ALL the time and you can be sure God will bless you and your family in a variety of ways, especially with peace of mind. Nothing escapes his eyes – He can read our hearts and minds.
We are all ONE human family – and we should all help each other no matter what our race or religion. That is what the famous Good Samaritan parable that Jesus Christ told us is all about.
One of the best practical examples that I have seen from India to Canada is that of the Sikhs who have langars (free meals in their kitchens) in their gurdwaras for all.
THIS week I was so moved to read a Globe and Mail newspaper article titled “Homeless youth need compassion, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair says.”
Blair said that labelling troubled youth as “bad” kids sets them on the wrong path. The Globe and Mail Editor-in-Chief John Stackhouse along with other business and community leaders slept on the streets of Toronto as part of an event put on by a youth shelter organization to raise money and awareness for homeless youth.
Blair told Stackhouse: “I would say to those people, you don’t know these kids. These are kids that didn’t choose to be on the street. They were forced through circumstances, then they find themselves on the street. The overwhelming majority are good kids, good kids with great potential, but kids who need a hand and they’re our kids and I think that’s the great thing about the city of Toronto. It is a Toronto, I think, [that] has compassion and that cares about those kids that are at risk and recognizes their potential.”
The same should be true of Vancouver.
