Activism, ACTIVATE!

Attempt two at typing this beast out -___- Facebook, fuck you.

ANYWAY. Onto my regularly scheduled programming.

I posted a note on facebook the other day about wanting to start a food bank drive, and got some good responses from friends supporting my idea. Then, I went on Pepsi Refresh's website because I had some "Power Vote" bottle caps and decided to try it that way. I liked what I found. I voted for a fund to help get some people in a community somewhere food. Hell yeah, I'm into that.

You see, I've been one of those people who falls between the cracks semifrequently my entire life. When I was in middle and high school I got free lunches, until my last two years when it was reduced cost (25 cents for your first time in line, 50 for the second I think it was).  I was one of those kids who gets a trash bag of stuffed animals and stuff for Christmas. My mom was too poor one year to afford presents for me (my parents are split up, I'd visit her every Sunday. We didn't get along too well, so I took some time away from her a couple years later that I feel guilty about, but that's a personal story for another time on another blog.)

Anyway, I've been the person who lives in the crack in the system. I should have been on food stamps when I was living in Oregon the first time, in Ohio, in Texas, and in NY. I should have gone to food banks, and I didn't even know it applied to me. In fact, in some cases it didn't.. in two of those cases I was living there illegally.

I've been homeless. I've slept outside in the cold, and found out I'm one of the few people that really has a hard, HARD time doing it- I have a bladder issue apparently due to stress and a poor diet (I don't have it anymore, ever since I am no longer homeless it's disappeared) that would wake me up every two hours having to pee because I was cold. I peed in a cup outside more times than I can count. HAVING TO is different than choosing to, let me tell you.. I didn't want to walk the 12 blocks to the nearest public restroom because at 3 am I'd have to walk by the junkies etc and that bathroom was hardly sanitary.. it was near the "Rough" part of town- and that's someone who's been homeless saying it.

Anyway, I've been cold. I've been hungry. And I want to at least give back in my life to make other people's lives better. Not because I feel like I have to karmically to rebalance the few good things I received. No.  Not really that at all. In fact, it's the same reason I have a tendency to compliment people on their outfit. I do it to a random stranger a day, when I'm outside.  I compliment their shirt, or their hair, or whatever I genuinely like about their attire when I'm going on my way. Not every reaction is a good one, sometimes people give you strange looks, but it's worth it for the ones whose eyes light up.

In 9th grade, I had someone tell me I actually stopped her from killing herself because of a five minute conversation in Biology. FIVE MINUTES. Just talking to someone and making them feel like a person can help

It's really amazing what little bits will add up to. I want to just.. make some people's lives better. Not because I feel it's a duty. Because I feel like it's an honor, it's something WORTH doing.  I'm not saying I don't want to have wealth of my own. I do. But I still want to give back to people who have so little, because I know what it's like, and it actually hurts me in some ways to see people suffering. People I know, and people I don't. It happens in this country all the time.. The lower tier of society's poverty stricken "middle" class (which is not so much middle as poor, really) and the lower class, which I hate the term of because it makes you seem like you're a lesser person though you have to go through more, is very at risk for becoming homeless themselves.

The homeless numbers are swelling, which is putting strain on the economy even more.. It is a giant mess. Little things help.

Like... I want to start food drives for food banks. Just at local grocery stores, I want to have like.. Giant gaylords (They're these huuuuge boxes that are on pallets) full of cans and stuff to donate. It might be better to do it separately, but that's not the point. The point is, I want to give back, and try to convince people that giving back isn't just something you do because you feel you have to... Think about the person whose day you're making better. Whose week, year even, because when they needed it most, they were able to get a week's worth of food.

I want to do clothing drives and blanket making drives for the homeless. I want to do my best to help, with what I can

It'll take me a while, because currently my own housing is not the most secure, but still.. Someday, I do want to, and WILL change the world. Even if it is just my own corner of it.