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| Path: Main Street : NewsWeek : Op/Ed : Audience Opinions |
Several cities in British Columbia have installed, or are planning to install, charity meters in downtown areas. Charity meters are modified parking meters where people can deposit spare change for charities instead of giving it to panhandlers.
Can spare change meters help discourage panhandling in urban areas? Do they help to address the other issues that often surround panhandling, or are they just a way for local governments to say that they are addressing the issue?
great idea. would be even better if the city used the money they raised with metered parking to fund social services. then the city would be pushed to place more - not fewer meters on the street. if we could be sure it would be used to help the homeless and others with difficulties, hurrah. better than gambling which causes another illness.-- Joan Aaron
I do not agree with charity meters. I see them as another way of distancing people from other "real" people and problems. Feeding a machine is the easy way out. When I am faced with someone panhandling I am also faced with life as it is. Watching a television show about poverty or homelessness, reading a newspaper article or a book about related issues is not the same as coming face to face with a person who doesn't share the life that I am privileged to live. If more of us had to walk in the shoes of a disadvantaged person then more of us might be more likely to look for real solutions.-- Maureen Dingman, Oshawa
I was in Victoria last summer and was asked for change by street people. I gave but it was my choice to give .If I had put the same money in a meter, the whole exchange would have become de-humanizing. It is comparable to those Faith Healers telling the faithful to place their hand on the T.V. Surely we can use our own judgement in the giving of alms without bureaucrats encroaching on that part of our lives too.-- Aubrey Smith
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