Wikipedia's entry for begging:
Begging (or panhandling) is to request a donation in a supplicating manner. Beggars are commonly found in public places such as street corners or public transport, where they request money, most commonly in the form of spare change. They may use cups, boxes or hats to collect the donations.
Earlier in the week, I came across a website that reminded me of a trip to Washington D.C. I took many years ago. On that trip, I saw a homeless man for the first time in my life. He was curled up on one of those grates outside a large building. It was also the first time I encountered a beggar. I remember walking past the man with a cup begging for change. I was young and from a small town, so the sight of this man was almost surreal. I asked the chaperone of the trip if it would be okay to give him a dollar. She explained to me that it would be safer for me to donate my money to an organization dedicated to helping people and that fourteen year old girls shouldn't wander the streets of D.C. trying to help all the homeless people. She could see that behind the tears in my eyes I just wanted to help him.
Got off track. Sorry. Anyway. The website I came across is called www.cyberbeg.com. Here's what is in the "About Us" section:
Cyberbeg.com offers people hope. This site provides a way for financially unfortunate people to connect with those who may donate. Some may compare it to a lottery or the classifieds but we like to think of it as a site dedicated to helping people. Before Cyberbeg.com, the financially unfortunate had no way of asking for help. Now, through Cyberbeg.com, requests are broadcasted for donators to view. The creators of Cyberbeg.com send the best of luck to all of those who need help and a sincere thanks to those who have donated to these worthy causes. After two years of posting cyber begs, the site has been featured in The NY Times, ABC News, CNN, CBS Evening News, WGN News, Canadian Broadcasting Channel, and many others. Cyberbeg.com is looking forward to several new and upcoming changes. We are excited about the success of Cyberbeg.com and look forward to continued growth.
I am honestly shocked by this website. I don't even know what to say about it. I just had to put it out there. Please comment to let me know what you think about it.
2 comments:
That site is hilarious! The beg stories are LAME!! It is an entire website dedicated to obama voters. 99 percent of the problems could have been avoided with little or no common sense or god forbid, a JOB...
Regards,
Donita Bath
Hookertown, North Carolina
The amazing thing is that people actually give money to those people. I guess if you're crazy enough to donate to a site like that, then you kind of deserve to be conned. I've heard of people using personal blogs as well to raise money for unofficial charitable causes. My understanding is that it's probably illegal in most cases, and they should have to claim donations on their taxes if they are not a legit 501 C 3.
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