Tag: Helping People

Feeding the homeless Free Hot Soup Kansas City
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Free Hot Soup Kansas City Barred from Feeding the Homeless
Teagan Fair | United States

Local citizens became angry recently after the state stopped workers from Free Hot Soup Kansas City from handing out food to the homeless in four locations. Why did this occur? Officials from the Kansas City Health Department claimed that nobody had inspected the food. They also stated that they had told the group that they needed a permit to give out this charity. “They were notified back in a meeting in September that they needed to get a permit, and they just outright said they refused to do that,” claimed Rex Archer, KCMO’s Director Of Health, according to KSHB, a local Kansas City outlet.

On the other hand, Nellie McCool, who has been involved in charity for years, opposes the Health Department’s actions. She claimed the following: “Officers and health inspectors demanded we destroy our food and we were violating health code violations by sharing meals with our friends”. She also denied the claim that anyone told her group that they needed a permit to feed the homeless. “We never had any kind of government official ever come and speak with anybody at any of the public parks”, she insisted.

They used bleach to destroy the food that Free Hot Soup Kansas City gave to the homeless, Archer solidified. He moreover claimed that that is standard procedure in this situation. “This operation claims to care about folks, but if you care about folks, you want to prepare food safely”, he also said.

Officials later went as far as to claim that they stopped the charity because supposedly, their events are “open to the general public”, using this as a negative. They also claimed the food is not at the right temperature for “food safety” in transit to the locations.

The Fight for Free Hot Soup Kansas City

Nellie McCool says that Free Hot Soup Kansas City should be immune to the regulations. First of all, she claims that they are not an official organization and simply shared food with their friends. “As far as I know, picnics are not regulated by the same laws as organizations and vendors, so by using our public parks to have a picnic with our friends, I don’t believe we were breaking any rules,” she said.

Arthur, however, took a different approach. He argued: “If it’s a family picnic, it’s for the family, and it’s at one location. So it was pretty clear that this was an operation that was operating illegally”.

Essentially, officials at the Kansas City Health Department believe the food could possibly be ‘unsafe’ and ‘open to the general public.’ Despite this, the homeless people were choosing to participate in the picnic, and without it, may have been in even greater danger. Though not a legal system, it nonetheless provided food for those who may not have had any.

Many locals involved believed that this was a case of the government’s inadequacy. Thus, they stepped forward in the private sector, performing generous acts in a more direct, streamlined way. The effects were the same. However, Free Hot Soup Kansas City broke the law of feeding the homeless without a permit.

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‘Tis the Season, to Shame the Welfare State

By Addie Mae Villas | USA

With the holiday spirit filling the air, benevolence and well doing fills the minds of many people around the world. Driving them to do good and help their fellow brothers and sisters. With charities becoming more and more popular, it is a grand time to evaluate their effectiveness and compare them to the government-run social programs. As many people know, welfare is ineffective and only harms the people it is intended to help, so why are charities so much more beneficial? It’s simple, they aren’t run and controlled by the government and bureaucrats.

To begin with, let’s look at the status of charity in the world. Currently, the United States is ranked fifth in the world for charity by the World Giving Index, founded by the Charities Aid Foundation. This is the lowest ranking since 2011 and caused the US to shift four positions. Although it may appear second-rate that the US dropped so far, it is still ranked highly in the categories of helping a stranger and monetary donations. But, looking at the larger picture, charities have been thriving around the world and is often the focal point of many people’s lives. One can turn to religion for this fact. The World Giving Index stated that Myanmar was the most charitable for the reason of religion. The overwhelming majority of Myanmar, 87.9% to be exact, follow the Buddhist religion. Buddhism has always had an emphasis on charity, and consider generosity to be a paramita or perfection. Buddhism is not the only religion that holds charity near their heart. One can easily look to the Abrahamic religions for a focus on charity. Christianity demonstrates tithing in the Old Testament and the various verses, such as 2 Corinthians 9:7 and Proverbs 19:17. Islam also focuses on charity with the Zakat, stated in the Quran as an obligation to give 2.5% of Nisab to those in need. Finally, Judaism has Tzedakah which has Jews donate at least ten percent of their income to charity. Even the Libertarian Party has a role with charity as stated in The Libertarian Mind “A libertarian society is marked b widespread charity undertaken as a result of personal benevolence, not left to state coercion.” As shown, charities have ties to a major part of many of people’s lives.

Seeing that giving is so important to so many people, charities are able to get funds and thrive in the free market. Nonprofits normally have small staffs, and provide minimal compensation for their employees, ensuring that the funds are used for the charity work. With government programs, they are often overstaffed and paid far more than their charity counterparts. John Chubb once investigated the New York City government and one of their social programs which employed more than 50 employees for one service compared to the Catholic Archdiocese which had just 26 employees. The other reason why charities succeed so much more than the government is that they have the motivation to do good. Since they always rely on donations, they have an obligation to do well. As compared to government-run social programs that function off the dollars of the American people through taxes. Since they will always have a steady income from tax dollars, they have no incentive to perform at their best, and most of the time they only function at a speed that gets them by. In the end, charities always outperform the government because of the silent hand of the free market.

Although we have no choice in how the government takes our money and uses it for ineffective programs. We can, however, choose to donate to charities, just take a look at the various volunteer organizations that have received a perfect score from the Charity Navigator. Have a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season, and remember the holidays are not the only time that we should be in the giving spirit and supporting charities, one of the best ways to combat the welfare state.