Posts tagged poor
As Catholics what are we feeding the poor?
Jan 29th
If one only looks to the Gospel they see the Lord speaking of some other kind of food that will satisfy the soul, not just the stomach.
John 6:27 Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
John 6:33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world
John 6:35 I am the bread of life
Have our social justice programs been holding out and not giving all they can to the poor? Have we as Catholics been lazy and only give the poor what will fill their stomachs not their soul?
No. We have not been lazy. There are men and women across the world of many different faiths and backgrounds who give their entire life to those who are in need. These men and women are truly answering the call of Jesus Christ and serving the poor. Some have become saints, some will go unknown.
Jesus
But I say there is a third way! If we add Jesus Christ back into the mix our poor may still remain financial poor, but their soul will be feed. Sharing the Word of God cost nothing to our pockets, but everything to ourselves. What is easier; giving a bag of clothing to the homeless shelter, or teaching someone about Jesus?
I would say both have great merit and many poor need clothing, food, and shelter; however all need Jesus Christ.
Let us look at our current programs run for the poor by the Catholic Church and ask ourselves, “Is Sacred Scripture and the teaching of the Church at the center of what we do?” Maybe the answer is yes, but if it is no then by increasing the participation of a third party (God) maybe those who we meet will not go hungry.
How do you think the Church is answering the Lord’s call? How would you improve programs for the poor?
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Loading ...How to Quickly Increase Donations at a Homeless Shelter
Jan 26th
The Church
Looking through my closet every winter I put together a bag of cloths to go to the local homeless shelter. Some new cloths, some very worn cloths. I just drop the bag off and take a receipt for my tax deduction later. I feel warm inside that some homeless man will feel warmer.
But what happens to that bag when it gets to the homeless shelter? It gets put in a pile, sorted, folded, shelved, and eventually given to someone in need. Simple right?
The problem is when clothing begins piling up due to a lack of space, unfolded when tried on, and when there are 30 pairs of pants size 27 waist (who has a waist that small?). The whole clothing room becomes a disaster. I have experienced this first hand.
Time and energy is then spent reorganizing the clothes constantly and when clients ask for clothing it may appear there is an abundance of supplies, what they really need is lacking. For example who gives away sports jackets. All men. Who gives away a decent pair of shoes? No one. So the homeless man has a warm jacket, but his feet are getting frost bite.
The Process – In theory only
An Inventory Management Database (The Homeless Attire Management System HAMS). Just think of how a store keeps inventory! Please stay with me….As shirts, pants, hats, gloves, jeans, arrive:
- They are hung in appropriate spaces by size.
- The new arrivals are inputted into the computer database
- As clients arrive instead of rummaging through the clothing, the size can be searched for electronically.
- When a client takes clothing it is deducted from the HAM (Homeless Attire Management System.
Yes it’s that simple, but wait here is the Benefit.
Benefit
Jesus, I trust in You
Now here is the good stuff. As donors are looking on the homeless shelter website for ideas of how to help they will see live statistics of clothing inventory with warning signals that indicate the low levels on certain articles of clothing.
Donors will now think…Maybe instead of giving them one more sports jacket to be added to make 501 sports jackets, I could give a warm winter jacket since they only have 5 winter jackets and it is January 10.
Mangers of homeless shelters will also be able to keep better track of donations and forecast how much clothing they will need for different seasons. It will also alleviate clothing going to waste or put away in storage do to the lack of space. Clothing could then be coordinated to other homeless shelters in need.
Concrete evidence of how many clothes are given out each day will give strong reasons for others to give donations. Just think of the next fund raising email sent. Just today Catholic Charities Homeless Shelter has given 55 winter jackets, 30 shirts, and 100 towels away, but we only have 2 pairs of shoes and no winter hats. These numbers could automatically be added from your database full of inventory.
St. Katherine Drexel, a famous Philadelphia Catholic saint, kept records similar to these to help in the distribution of aid to the poor of Philadelphia.
How do you think Homeless Shelters could help more people? The Catholic Church operates many around the world, but could always make improvements.
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