Category Archives: charity

Creative panhandlers

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I’m not surprised that yesterday’s cartoon hit home with a lot of people, they or someone they know has had a similar experience in some way.

I got the idea for the cartoon through a circuitous route. I may have told you this before, but I was at a Taco Bell drive-thru recently and this guy comes up to the car and asks for money. I told him I didn’t have change, I only had a $10.00 bill and I showed him the bill in my hand.

He then says, “I’ll wait for the change.”

Now this intrigued me and I liked his ingenuity, so I didn’t mind that. But he was annoying as he followed me and the car as I drove around the drive, waiting for my turn to order. I ordered and drove to the window, and he was still there and when they handed me the change, he took it. He didn’t even wait for me to decide how much to give him – I think it was about $3.00 and he took it. He waited between the car and the drive-thru window, so as not to miss his opportunity in the off chance that I hit the peddle and sped off, which was not my intention, by the way.

So of course, I got to mulling this over and I ended up with the cartoon you see here.

It’s dog eat dog out there, these panhandlers have to be creative.

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He came in like a wrecking ball

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Today is “No Pants Day.” This is my contribution.

You’ll probably see a bunch of comic strips today where the characters are pantsless.

No Pants Day is held the first Friday in May. May 5 was Cartoonists Day and May 4, was of course Starwars Day – May the Fourth Be With You.

May is a busy month for the comics world – heck, my own birthday is this month and so many friends have birthdays this month.

Years ago, we used to have a “Gemini Party” where so many of us would get together and celebrate. One time we lined up for a photo – about 12 of us or so – in the order our birthdays fell on the calendar.

Anyway, “No Pants Day” was started by some college students in Texas in 2000. You might have seen the no pants subway rides – that is connected this some way.

Hanging coffees

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I give money to people who ask for it when I’m walking around New York and I have also bought meals for people who look like they need it, and this Hanging Coffee idea from Suspended Coffees on Facebook is a great idea, especially with winter coming on.

There is a little coffee shop, where two people arrive and approached the counter.
“Five coffees ☕️ please. Two for us and three hanging.”
They paid, they took their two coffees and left.
I asked the waiter. “What’s this about hanging coffees?”
“Wait and you’ll see.”
Some more people came in.
Two girls asked for a coffee each, they paid & left.
The following order was for seven coffees and it was made by three women – ‘three for them and four hanging coffees.’
I was left wondering…what is the meaning of the hanging coffees, they leave.
Then, a man dressed in worn clothes, who looks like he might be homeless, arrives at the counter and asks sincerely…
“Do you have a coffee hanging?”
“Yes we do, sir.”
They serve him a coffee…. I got my answer.
People pay in advance for a coffee that will be served to whoever can’t afford a hot drink.
This tradition started in Naples.
Amazingly, it has spread throughout the world’s cities and towns.
It’s also possible to order not only “hanging coffees” but also a sandwich or a full low cost meal.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could all start doing this in the cities and towns where we live?

Small kindnesses like this can impact so many lives, in ways we could never imagine.

Maybe we should all try it. 😊

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It’s all about tofu

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I saw a great episode of tasteMAKERS this weekend – about tofu, which I never liked, but after seeing this episode it looks pretty good.

There was a time when my mother tried sneaking tofu into things. She is a gourmet cook and has recipes that she’s used all our lives – mostly Italian stuff, like meatballs, lasagna, etc. So when we started seeing strange things in the meatballs, we threw a fit. “What is this?” I asked, “You’ve been making these all your life and you’re known for your meatballs and now you’re changing the recipe?”

She said she was trying to hide the tofu in the meatballs, it was a funny scene.

Anyway, this lady, Jenny Yang bought a tofu store/factory in Chicago after the owners closed it down. Jenny depended on their products and the only way to keep getting them was to buy the business. While doing that, she ended up supporting so many other local businesses.

It’s a great story and as I said, the tofu looks pretty good, too, in it’s many incarnations.

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Snoopy license plates!

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The states of California is offering Snoopy license plates. The extra money raised goes to California museums.

“This street-legal, DMV- and PEANUTS-approved license plate features Snoopy doing his signature happy dance. Plates for cars, trucks, vans, commercial vehicles, and motorcycles start at just $50 ($103 for personalized plates).”

There are over 1400 museums in California.

I want one. Only I don’t live in California. 😦

Dear Mr. Cuomo

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I was mentioning that people’s true selves, their true spirits come out in times like these.

Here is the letter New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo received from a selfless retired Kansas farmer named Dennis Ruhnke, Gov. Cuomo read it at one of his press conferences and then posted it online, humanity at its best:

cuomo-letter

Dear Mr. Cuomo,

I seriously doubt that you will ever read this letter as I know you are busy beyond belief with a disaster that has befallen our country. We are a nation in crisis, of that there is no doubt. I’m a retired farmer hunkered down in northeast Kansas with my wife who has but one lung and occasional problems with her remaining lung. She also has diabetes. We are in our seventies now and frankly I am afraid for her. Enclosed, find a solitary N95 masks, left over from my farming days. It has never been used. If you could would you please give this mask to a nurse or doctor in your state. I have kept four masks for my immediate family. Please keep on doing what you do so well. Which is to lead.

Sincerely,
Dennis and Sharon

Dennis thought the governor would never read the letter. By now I think the whole world has read it.

Spring cleaning

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books2

So I’m getting ready for the big move. No, I haven’t put my place up for sale yet and I haven’t been house hunting, but I have been cleaning out closets and draws, trying to lighten the load by getting rid of things I don’t need. Also, it’s something to do while cooped up at home.

I’m donating them.

Look at this book, very interesting, ended up at the top of the pile.

I never read it. I didn’t read most of these books. For a few years, I was receiving books daily, sometimes three to four books a day. They were coming from publishers who wanted me to review their books! I don’t know how I got on the lists, but all the big publishers sent me books – Doubleday, Random House, Simon & Schuster, etc. I didn’t know how to get off the lists so I kept receiving them and one day after maybe three or four years it stopped.

They are filling up the house. It’s time to get rid of them. Most books these days I read on Kindle. But to be honest, if I wasn’t planning on moving, I would keep them. It seems like all the people in the know have lots of books!

The real super heroes

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A few years ago I was in the hospital for eight days and I got such an appreciation for everyone who worked there, especially the nurses. While the doctors were in and out sparingly, the nurses did everything, every day. But the whole hospital staff were heroes, they were angels to me, even down to the guy who changed the light bulb.

They all treated me with love and respect and you can imagine now how extra special all of these people are. They are there to help others. Every day of their lives. That’s their calling.

I vowed to volunteer at the hospital, because even the volunteers were wonderful to me. But I never did it. I’m not sure why, it’s so easy, the hospital is right next door, I can walk over.

My cousin volunteers at a hospital in New York, she does something there every Saturday. I thought she volunteered at the Elmhurst Hospital that they keep talking about on the news – ground zero for caronavirus in our country. She lives near there, but she is not at that hospital, but another cousin is – he is a cop in NY, that’s his precinct. He is at that hospital three days a week. I worry about them, I’m close to my cousins, they are like brothers and sisters to me.

Of course the hospital workers are not the only super heroes out there today – the police, the fire departments, the transit workers, all the service workers, all the people who put their lives on the line by simply leaving the house in the day are the super heroes including the grocery store workers, the teachers, etc.

I love the memes I see these days with Batman and Superman and all the superheros saluting the healthcare workers.

The Distinguished Gentlemans Ride

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Came upon the 2017 Distinguished Gentlemans Ride on Sunday morning, where they were all meeting up in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood for the start of the 11 am ride. The ride includes classic and vintage motorcycles where the owners unite to raise money and awareness for prostate cancer and men’s health issues. Money raised supports the Movember Foundation. This is a worldwide event and every city’s ride takes place on Sunday, September 24 this year.

Around the world, tens of thousands gentlefolk don their gentle gear and participate. The first ride in 2012, 2500 people took part, in 2016 it was over 56,000.

Over $4 million has been raised so far. Miami’s ride was from Wynwood down south to the Schnebly Redland’s Winery.

A grandmother’s love

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lichtenstein

Lichtenstein’s “Masterpiece” photo by Dan Kitwood / Getty Images file

This Lichtenstein painting called, “Masterpiece,” recently sold for $165 million by art collector Agnes Gund and of that, Ms. Gund is donating $100 million to start a social justice fund which she hopes will lower the prison population in the US.

The money will go to the Art For Justice Fund.

From their website: “Over the next five years (2017-2022), the Art for Justice Fund (A4JF) will support innovative advocacy and interventions aimed at safely cutting the prison population in states with the highest rates of incarceration, and strengthening the education and employment options for people leaving prison. In addition, the Fund will support selected artistic initiatives that enable artists to bear witness to the injustices of the system and speak to the potential of people enmeshed in it.”

Ms. Gund has six African American grandchildren so this hits home for her. She told The New York Times that “she has worried about their future as they’ve matured, particularly in light of shootings of black teenagers like Trayvon Martin in Florida.”

More here at NBC News.

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