While maneuvering my way through downtown yesterday around so many who were gathered to kick off the holiday season (the lights were turned on on the mag mile), I couldn't help but notice that many of the panhandlers had laminated signs that read "homeless", "please help" and/or "veteran".
It took me until today's internet research to shake off my jadedness (admittedly, my first thought was that it was a strange use of donated change to laminate a sign -- and my second thought was that the proliferation of signs seemed to imply that folks were somehow organized into some new business model) ... but it turns out that the signs are a result of a local initiative for a group to pass them out in hopes that it would be harder for passersby to ignore the people on the corners.
Which all just leads me to request that, in this season of thankfulness, please remember those who are less fortunate than you. And Happy Thanksgiving week to you and yours!
FROM WHENCE THE SIGNS CAME:
http://homelesssigns.org/
AS FEATURED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/us/free-signs-for-panhandlers-receive-mixed-reaction.html
AS FEATURED IN A FELLOW CHICAGOAN'S BLOG:
http://www.366randomacts.org/2012/05/day-124-passed-out-laminated-signs-to.html
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