I am sick of the ads to help people in other countries with food, clothes etc. We have so many people in the United States that are homeless and hungry. Yet many people go out of their way to help other countries. I say Charity begins at home and Home is here in the United States of America. Lets take care of the hungry and homeless here first!

Maybe it's because our poorest are richer than the people in a lot of foreign countries. We do help our poor with food banks, assistance, Christmas/holiday giving, etc. Many people in 3rd world countries work hard for pennnies a day and can barely feed their families. Here in the states, we don't have many babies with distended bellies that end up starving to death.

Personally, I give "at home" and abroad. I think we have to end our narrow mindedness.

Because the health, happiness, and welfare of one is tied to the health, happiness, and welfare of all. Our very survival as the human race depends on taking care of everyone. We are one big family.
Many people see aid sent to foreign countries as a long term solution (birth control, brick stoves to heat the home and cook food, crops planted for a whole village, a school in a community where there was none before).
Also there many places around the world lacking in basic necessities. There are countries where entire generations are being raped and made into soldiers, where people cannot walk the streets to scrounge for food without fear of being killed. There are governments that terrorize their own people and keep food from them.
Many people here in the US feel (rightly or wrongly) there is so much opportunity here and so much freedom that a person should be able to make their own way.

I agree with freer I give to both foreign and domestic charities.

__________________
The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Exactly. There is no comparison between the "poor" in America and the "poor" in third-world countries

DS is currently volunteering here Whispering Seed Home for a month. He was there last year for 3 months. The children living at Whispering Seed are lucky. They have food and shelter. Some of them were born in brothals, some have single mothers who have died of aids, some have no identity (no birthdate, no birth certificate). I would much rather donate there than to take a "Christmas Angel" off a tree at church.

I felt the same way you did for a long time until my mom explained it to me. Those children in other countries do not have access to food, water or meds like we do in this country. Their Government either doesnt care or is way too poor to do anything about it. The people can not run next door and ask their neighbors for food, their churches or food banks like here in the US. For us to help them with any of their needs is a miracle to them.

I personally love Feed The Children. It is just wonderful how they have reached out to so many starving children in other countries as well as our own here in the US. In my opinion, anytime we can help someone or bring someone up to a higher place no matter where they are on this planet, that is what we are supposed to do and I thoroughly enjoy doing just that.

__________________
Paula
Some days are diamonds Some days are stone

http://paulajc.mycoupons.com/

Comparing our poor to poor people in third world countries is comparing apples to oranges. Poor people here often have access to food stamps, free school lunch, food banks, W.I.C., section 8 housing, S.S., Medicaid, ect.

What one of our children eat in one free school lunch is often more than a whole family will eat in a week in some places.

__________________
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

If an individual chooses to give their money away to foreign causes, then so be it. The money is theirs to do as they wish.

When my country continues to give and give and give outside of our borders, I say enough is enough. Our President, Senators, and Representatives should act fiscally responsibly in all matters and increasing the national debt in this and other ways can't continue.

That is the difference to me. The USA owes others nothing, and actually has done many "raok" and "pay it forward" acts already. As many of our citizens live on a budget, so should our country.

dl

Well, Bush had this to say about it:

At the confab in Monterrey, Mexico, Bush said the United States would gradually increase its assistance to poor nations by 50 percent--which would mean in several years a $5 billion boost over current levels. "We fight against poverty because hope is an answer to terror," he declared.

With that sentence, Bush seemingly recognized that terrorism is not irrational behavior unattached from the surroundings in which it arises. And he was acknowledging that "draining the swamp" for terrorists--as Secretary Donald Rumsfeld calls the military action in Afghanistan--requires more than armed force. Bush was saying the United States and the other wealthy nations must counter conditions that can cause people to turn to terrorism or to cheer on terrorists.

Finally, A Not-So-Bad Bush Doctrine: Poverty Breeds Terrorism

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I volunteer as a Coordinator for Operation Christmas Child which asks individuals to pack shoeboxes filled with hygiene items, school supplies and small toys. The entire box is probably worth only $5-$10. We then send them to children living in desperate situations in over 100 countries around the world. For many this will be the only gift they ever receive. I have had the opportunity this year to speak to many adults who as children received a shoebox gift. Their stories of poverty, hunger, disease and hardship are practically unbelievable when compared to how we live in the United States. One girl from Bosnia talked about 1 pencil for a classroom of 57, no food to the point of starvation, tanks, landmines, snipers killing her childhood friends. They don't even have a toothbrush, toothpaste, or a towel. Some children when getting their gifts take out the soap and give it long happy smells because they live over garbage dumps in Indonesia or in the sewers of Russia. When a group of children are asked to hold up their favorite item and they hold up a pencil or toothpaste it describes how little they have. These simple gifts give them a moment of joy and a chance at hope.
Samaritan's Purse is the parent organization and they respond to disasters all over the world INCLUDING the United States.
But the poverty I've seen and heard described in many places overseas is beyond imagination.

__________________

Thank you Rose. I hope that touches many hearts.

Charity begins at home. Let's feed and clothe our poor, hungry and homeless.

OK...it BEGINS at home...that doens't mean it has to stop there. I don't think we help other countries "first" as you say. I look at it as a ripple. "Home" is in the center, but you drop a pebble in the water and the ripple effect goes on and on.....myself, I like to spread the joy.

Couldn't have said it better myself!!

__________________
Mom to Jake, Zach & Meghan
SJCC STREAKS FOOTBALL!!
CLEVELAND BROWNS FOOTBALL!

The difference in our poor and the poor in some other nations is opportunity. While certainly some, due to circumstance, may face obstacles that feel insurmountable to them when it comes to gaining access to the benefits of capitalism, by and large our citizens can obtain a piece of the pie with some ingenuity and ambition. Even if that 'ambition' only amounts to being a fry cook at McD's for the entirety of one's adult life, the opportunity to put *some* type of roof over ones head and *some* amount of food on one's stomach exists. Granted, we, like the rest of the world, have citizens who are disabled and are unable to harness the power of our economic freedom, but generally an American has *opportunity*. How far they want to pursue *riches* is up to them. Minimum wage won't feed a family for long - or at least not to the standard to which most Americans would like to live - but it is a start not afforded those in many corners of the earth at all.

In nations for which many private American citizens have developed charitable programs, often it is their political / governmental structure that prohibits individuals from pursuing anything at all. They have no opportunity, and short of an all-out revolution they simply won't be able to get it. At least with *our* revolution here 200+ years ago, both sides had guns and it was a fair fight. Look at some of the nations that prick our hearts the hardest, and you'll see warlords with weaponry that prohibits the citizens from having any shot at an internal uprising. Those people are truly stuck in poverty with no hope, no opportunity, no means of support, and no sources of food. Sadly, for them it's not even a matter of 'teaching them to fish' because they aren't allowed to own a pole. All we can do is give them a meal.

I'm not generally for *government* being involved in these efforts. The UN's oil for food program is a perfect example of why government control is a bad idea. Saddam was supposed under trade restrictions, but the UN had a program where he was allowed to trade oil for food supplies that were to go to help his people. The mindset was along the lines of our reasoning for giving out WIC money for specific ITEMS rather than giving someone free money and HOPING they bought food with it. If we gave Iraq FOOD, what else could Saddam do with it BUT give it to his people? It wasn't good for anything but consumption!

But of course he figured out a way to sell that food, under the table, to communist countries, pocket the cash, and build a few more palaces for his sons with the proceeds. And the UN, of course, turned a blind eye because that's what they do.

When *people* are on the front lines of these ministries - and let's face it, they are usually religiously-connected *ministries* - the people on the front lines are helped. These ministries are truly the heart of those workers. They aren't treating that food like a chess piece on an international checkered board. They *care* about the *people*. That's why they bother to set up the charities in the first place - they were missionaries in those places, etc., and saw the desperate need. Those were not faceless starving children to them, and their desire to help had nothing to do with global politics.

Is there fraud and abuse in the private charity sector? Occasionally, you betcha. But by and large, those that I know who are directly involved in these efforts are absolutely heart-driven.

A dear relative of mine is in the thick of a situation in a nation that is of the ilk that I described above. She's helped countless orphaned children have food and shelter, and the government in that nation has suddenly changed their tune, will not allow foreigners to hold title to property, and has turned their orphanage into something much different, confiscating not only the building she raised money to built but all the vehicles that were used to take those children to obtain medical care, etc. This has all occurred practically overnight - two months ago every bed held at least one orphaned child, some of whom had been there for eight years since it was built. Today those children have been released to the streets. It's a horrible, terrible situation.

By and large, we have absolutely no appreciation for how good we have it here.

I saw an interview with Oprah one time where she was being questioned about why she gave so much money/time to overseas charity when there is so much need in the US.
Her response was that there are already numerous gov't agencies and private agencies that provide for people here in the US, while there are NO services for people in other countries. The people there have NO WHERE to turn, not even a place to get 1 meal.
She also brought up about how the difference between the poor in this country and the poor in other countries and how it takes so little to change the life of someone in a severely poor country.

I support charities that provide a way out of poverty, both here and abroad. You can feed people all day but if you don't give them the tools to rise above their current situation, nothing will ever improve.

__________________
Jesus SAVES by shopping smartly and using double coupons!

I think that is all very true, targetgirl. Here, we are sad for the dumpster divers. There, they don't even *have* dumpsters to dive in.

Actually, that's not entirely true. This is where my teenagers will spend a part of their 2010 summer... at a dump in Haiti giving pb&j sandwiches to children for whom that will be the only non-dump meal they get for the week.
[IMG]img src = "http://mikeely.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/haitians_food_dump.jpg[/IMG]

It's refreshing to see that a lot of us are on the same page.

wowitsdark ~ could you fix your link? I'd love to see the picture. I did go to the mikeely site.
I'm sure your teenagers will come back with a whole new understanding in life.

freer, I'm not sure why the photo isn't linking properly. And I should say that I just googled and got that photo - I have no association with (or even knowledge of) who that blogger is, just that my kids will be going to that part of the world (a dump along the border between Haiti and the DR on the island of Hispaniola) this summer and taking food and shoes to people there.

Here is a direct link to the photo.

http://mikeely.files.wordpress.com/2..._food_dump.jpg

Thanks. If that doesn't open someone's eyes, nothing will. It brought tears to my eyes.

There are plenty of countries that owe the US money, including European countries such as France! It is not only poor nations!!! I personally think you need to take care of your own before helping everyone else. When everyone in this country has a job, food on the table, and roof over their heads, then you can move onto other countries in need.

__________________
Check out my homepage http://julie.mycoupons.com/

I disagree... sort of.

I'm not sure what France and 'Europe' (unless you're talking about areas like Bosnia and Kosovo) have to do with anything, as I don't really see American charities setting up shop to care for the needs of the indigent in London or Paris.

There will never be a time when 'everyone' in this country has a job, food on the table, and a roof over their heads. It just won't happen, because some people simply aren't inclined to pursue those things for themselves. It's sad but true. You can't 'give' every single jobless person a job and have them show up on time and work hard and be productive. Some folks are lazy and have a poor work ethic and are, sadly, destined to be fired repeatedly. And even then, *our* government will step in and give them food to eat if they apply for it!

You can't just 'create' jobs here out of thin air. That's not how it works. Jobs exist because there is a recognized need, and someone has devised a way to fill that need and make money doing so.

Countries in the nations we see advertisements about have no societal/governmental structure that allows them to fill needs for others in exchange for pay. And their peers have no money to give them as pay, anyway. The caste systems in which they live, where there is only an upper class and an extremely poor & desperate class simply do not allow for any upward mobility at all.

In some of those nations, a mere $.20 will feed a person a hot meal. In the US, that same $.20 will buy a stick of gum. More humans are served with $10 in a third world country than in the US.

Still, I don't think it is the role of the government to use taxpayer money to create political clout in the world by sending cash through programs that are ill-conceived, heavy with bureaucracy, and ripe to be exploited. It's the front-lines, ground-level people who make the biggest difference in the lives of those they serve.

But why do you think that people in THIS country "deserve" to have a job, food on the table, and roof over their heads" -- moreso than people in other countries

Isn't it pretty much simply by the grace of God that YOU happened to be born in the US instead of in a third-world country where YOU might be starving to death at this very moment?

I cheerfully give to aid organizations and missionaries BECAUSE I am grateful to be living in this country instead of Somalia

Actually I wasn't born in America, but that is another story. It is not a matter of deserve. I just feel that you take care of your own first and then help others.
To the best of my knowledge, most of the European countries still owe debt. Some like France have officially refused to pay others like England are still paying what they can.

__________________
Check out my homepage http://julie.mycoupons.com/

I guess I'm still not clear on what Europe and its debt has to do with the original intent of the post.

It is interesting, though, that America supposedly has an "US FIRST!" mentality, when in reality it sounds like we are the exception to that rule, and that other developed nations *do* think along those lines.

Kellyjef I agree with everything you said 100 percent and I thank God all the time for having been born in this wonderful country we call America. I do feel we should of course help our country first but I also feel that it is the human decent thing to do to help those who are less fortunate then us. Peace and stay safe in this holiday season of 09... Catherine

You are right, I think I got off track with my statement. I think the poster is talking about on a personal level and I took it to a government level.
I think I am just pointing out that we always help others, and having lived in another country, I am always amazed at how America is put down. We are expected to be the first country to help another, but then the first to be blasted when we don't. I personally believe that the European Union is now in a better position to help out than we are. Our debt at this point is really hurting us.
I just think that sometimes we forget about the poverty at our doorstep and focus on other countries.
Personally my money goes to my church and to the support of missionaries both locally and abroad.

__________________
Check out my homepage http://julie.mycoupons.com/

Ah, that makes perfect sense, and I think we're on the same page about this.

Our $ goes for those same things. We've got commitments to some individuals in need that we know personally, and also to some non-US-based causes that came on our radar that we thought were more than worthy of any help we might be able to give.

Great responses to the OP's question. It really is a matter of degrees of poverty between the US and other third world countries....and more and more, I'm finding myself disappointed in the entitlement attitude of America's "poor". Too much help is not always a good thing...

Furthermore, helping other countries and their people is part of what makes America strong and respected and/or feared as a super power when it comes to world politics, etc.

cj/

__________________
I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips