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Post by themanwhoknewnothing on Nov 14, 2019 8:38:06 GMT
A disabled man who desperately wanted company for Veterans Day received an overwhelming response after placing a heartbreaking advert in the window of a barbers. War vet Lyndon Dale Flowers penned a note to ask: 'Would someone like to take a local disabled veteran to dinner on Veterans Day? No car. My treat. Dale.' The 63-year-old left the advert, which included his phone number, in the window of Judy and Heather’s Barbershop in Maine, United States, a few days before the Veterans Day celebrations on November 11. Heather Swift, one of the barbers, was so touched by the note she shared the message on Facebook - leading to Dale being inundated with offers.
There should be more, especially over Christmas.
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Post by jimmy20 on Nov 14, 2019 10:49:05 GMT
A good few yeas ago a young couple arrived to live in my town, they were the new Sally Army persons running the patch. I met them at a social function and whilst chatting they mentioned that they planned to start a soup kitchen for the homeless, and a Christmas dinner. Inspired by their enthusiasm I got involved and helped recruit volunteers and the local butcher to donate a turkey Christmas day we all turned up very early to prepare for the doors opening, wondering how many homeless folk would turn up. We needn't have worried, they had started queuing before we opened This became and annual event, extended to include those who were on their own or lonely, with regular volunteers and donations of clothing. We even considered the model that Crisis at Christmas finally adopted of having facilities to shower, medical and benefit advisors present Sadly it all fell apart when a LA jobsworth stuck his nose in and stopped it all. the Sally Army have did not have the appropriate licences to serve hot food
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Nov 14, 2019 11:26:54 GMT
Post by ARENA on Nov 14, 2019 11:26:54 GMT
A good few yeas ago a young couple arrived to live in my town, they were the new Sally Army persons running the patch. I met them at a social function and whilst chatting they mentioned that they planned to start a soup kitchen for the homeless, and a Christmas dinner. Inspired by their enthusiasm I got involved and helped recruit volunteers and the local butcher to donate a turkey Christmas day we all turned up very early to prepare for the doors opening, wondering how many homeless folk would turn up. We needn't have worried, they had started queuing before we opened This became and annual event, extended to include those who were on their own or lonely, with regular volunteers and donations of clothing. We even considered the model that Crisis at Christmas finally adopted of having facilities to shower, medical and benefit advisors present Sadly it all fell apart when a LA jobsworth stuck his nose in and stopped it all. the Sally Army have did not have the appropriate licences to serve hot food More of this kind of public spirit would be great. PS well done Jimmy!
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Post by jimmy20 on Nov 14, 2019 13:00:21 GMT
It was a simple thing to do, and very enjoyable. Our children had grown up and fled the nest so Christmas Day was not the usual busy time at home
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Nov 14, 2019 13:28:47 GMT
Post by aubrey on Nov 14, 2019 13:28:47 GMT
A good few yeas ago a young couple arrived to live in my town, they were the new Sally Army persons running the patch. I met them at a social function and whilst chatting they mentioned that they planned to start a soup kitchen for the homeless, and a Christmas dinner. Inspired by their enthusiasm I got involved and helped recruit volunteers and the local butcher to donate a turkey Christmas day we all turned up very early to prepare for the doors opening, wondering how many homeless folk would turn up. We needn't have worried, they had started queuing before we opened This became and annual event, extended to include those who were on their own or lonely, with regular volunteers and donations of clothing. We even considered the model that Crisis at Christmas finally adopted of having facilities to shower, medical and benefit advisors present Sadly it all fell apart when a LA jobsworth stuck his nose in and stopped it all. the Sally Army have did not have the appropriate licences to serve hot food
I'd have thought the Salvation Army would have had the correct licence, or could have got one: don't they do this kind of thing a lot anyway? I don't think you can blame the bloke from the council for wanting to make sure food intended for the homeless should be of the same standard as food served in restaurants though.
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Nov 14, 2019 13:54:30 GMT
Post by althea on Nov 14, 2019 13:54:30 GMT
When I was in hospital at Christmas, after having my youngest daughter,38 years ago,the salvation army choir and band came in and sang carols and hymns all the time we had our Christmas dinner. All the walking wounded had gone home, so there were only about 30 of us left in the hospital over the holiday. The hospital put on a wonderful meal,which we all appreciated but were too poorly to eat. On Christmas eve,Father Christmas came into my room and left a gift for my daughter. I will never forget that Christmas,or the salvation army people who gave up their day to make our Christmas so memorable. I always give to the SA if I see them out collecting. This is one branch of religion I truly respect and admire because they give so much practical help to the poor and needy.
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Nov 14, 2019 14:25:08 GMT
Post by jimmy20 on Nov 14, 2019 14:25:08 GMT
A good few yeas ago a young couple arrived to live in my town, they were the new Sally Army persons running the patch. I met them at a social function and whilst chatting they mentioned that they planned to start a soup kitchen for the homeless, and a Christmas dinner. Inspired by their enthusiasm I got involved and helped recruit volunteers and the local butcher to donate a turkey Christmas day we all turned up very early to prepare for the doors opening, wondering how many homeless folk would turn up. We needn't have worried, they had started queuing before we opened This became and annual event, extended to include those who were on their own or lonely, with regular volunteers and donations of clothing. We even considered the model that Crisis at Christmas finally adopted of having facilities to shower, medical and benefit advisors present Sadly it all fell apart when a LA jobsworth stuck his nose in and stopped it all. the Sally Army have did not have the appropriate licences to serve hot food
I'd have thought the Salvation Army would have had the correct licence, or could have got one: don't they do this kind of thing a lot anyway? I don't think you can blame the bloke from the council for wanting to make sure food intended for the homeless should be of the same standard as food served in restaurants though . I'm talking about a good few years ago when all they had was a basic kitchen, usually used for coffee and soup but there was a cooker there In any event given that the homeless were used to eating scraps out of bins or out of date stuff I don't think that they were too worried about LA certification. Interestingly two of our volunteers were solicitors and wanted to take the LA on but the Sally Army didn't want to get involved in the courts or publicity. We considered cooking the food in our own homes and just serving it in the Hall but Mr Nasty wasn't having that
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Nov 14, 2019 15:37:46 GMT
Post by aubrey on Nov 14, 2019 15:37:46 GMT
I'd have thought the Salvation Army would have had the correct licence, or could have got one: don't they do this kind of thing a lot anyway? I don't think you can blame the bloke from the council for wanting to make sure food intended for the homeless should be of the same standard as food served in restaurants though . I'm talking about a good few years ago when all they had was a basic kitchen, usually used for coffee and soup but there was a cooker there In any event given that the homeless were used to eating scraps out of bins or out of date stuff I don't think that they were too worried about LA certification. Interestingly two of our volunteers were solicitors and wanted to take the LA on but the Sally Army didn't want to get involved in the courts or publicity. We considered cooking the food in our own homes and just serving it in the Hall but Mr Nasty wasn't having that
I accept all that, but the bloke was really trying to give the SA some from possible legal action should one of the homeless people get food poisoning (whether they got it from there or not - that kind of thing can be hard to prove, one way or another).
I know that kind of thing is really frustrating, but it is there for a reason; and the bloke might well have lost his job if it got out that he had allowed the place to run without certification.
One of the things I do is help people apply for volunteering posts (I don't see them, I just give them links and stuff like that in emails). Anyone working with children or old people has to have a criminal background check. I'm imagine that for more than 99% of the time these are pointless, and useless - most people don't have a criminal part, and some others don't, yet): but nobody ever minds getting them done, or minds that they will not be able to do the kind of volunteering they want to do without one. The same goes for premises where the volunteering is to take place, which have to have risk assessments, etc, done. Some of this could be seen as just covering arses but it is usually more than that - making sure the place is properly insured, that there are proper procedures for leaving quickly, etc.
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Nov 14, 2019 16:00:10 GMT
Post by jimmy20 on Nov 14, 2019 16:00:10 GMT
Aub, I would never have seen you as a supporter of the health and safety zealots who I see as put on this earth to interfere and spoil everything we do in their busybody ways We managed perfectly well without all this nonsense, if they had their way nothing would ever get done
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Nov 14, 2019 16:21:52 GMT
Post by aubrey on Nov 14, 2019 16:21:52 GMT
Aub, I would never have seen you as a supporter of the health and safety zealots who I see as put on this earth to interfere and spoil everything we do in their busybody ways We managed perfectly well without all this nonsense, if they had their way nothing would ever get done
They're there to protect us from unscrupulous employers and suppliers. The US, in many ways, is much more lax than we are, and their food poisoning rate is 10 times greater than ours. Other places are worse. I'd rather live in a place that has protections of workers and consumers, even if the rules sometimes seem petty and the people went to check them sometimes go to far.
I see it a bit like traffic wardens. Nobody likes traffic wardens (so much so that they even changed their name), but if we didn't have them cities would be impossible to move about in. There was a town a few years ago where the traffic wardens went on strike (or something) and the place was gridlocked every day, until they came back to work.
So, it can all be annoying, but it's better to have them than not.
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Nov 14, 2019 18:01:48 GMT
Post by jimmy20 on Nov 14, 2019 18:01:48 GMT
Well, in my case they prevented homeless people getting a decent meal, and company for a day Didn't you tell us you were onetime squatting, I bet H&S would have something to say about that
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Nov 14, 2019 18:44:46 GMT
Post by aubrey on Nov 14, 2019 18:44:46 GMT
Well, in my case they prevented homeless people getting a decent meal, and company for a day Didn't you tell us you were onetime squatting, I bet H&S would have something to say about that They are annoying and counter-productive sometimes, I don't deny that; but on the whole they're a good thing.
Our squat was quite safe, until the idiot who lived with us tried to fiddle the electric one day - he thought he could by-pass the meter, and that the meter reader wouldn't notice; he'd have killed himself had he not been stood on a rubber bucket; the knife he was using had a massive scar across the blade. God, what an idiot he was though.
ON balance, all we did there was to keep the place warm, and to stop the damp from getting in; we probably saved the council a fair bit in the end.
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