Lindsey Barth: New plea for charity virtually every day; doesn’t anyone work?
Some wonder why people do not give more to charitable causes to help take care of the poor and needy. This might be one reason. My wife and I kept track in 2016 of how many times we were asked to give money by phone, mail or in person. This does not include any giving through our church for various needs. We kept a paper on our kitchen table to mark each time we were asked for money. The number was 314 times in 365 days. That means, on average, we had an 86 percent chance of being asked for money every day of last year. That is absurd.
It makes you wonder if there is anyone out there who can still financially take care of themselves. Are we now in a full-blown socialist and social-justice society? What happened to America’s rugged individualism? As a people, we have become very, very weak and dependent on others.
Lindsey Barth, Modesto
This story was originally published January 30, 2017 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Lindsey Barth: New plea for charity virtually every day; doesn’t anyone work?."