Comments on: HoboJacket! Like an ill-advised flash of lightning!

By: smc

smc — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 17:00:49 +0000

I think it was reasonable for people to point out their objections or concerns about this project. But it is clear from the initial description, that what was being attempted was motivated by a sincere attempt to improve the lives of the homeless, not to demean them. The fact that Jin Pan did not realize the possible implications appears to be a sincere mistake, and his apology seems likewise sincere.

Jin Pan may have made an error in judgement when he launched the project, but the whole episode speaks well of his character, not the reverse.

By: sumac

sumac — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 18:51:58 +0000

In reply to Kris Naelapaa. Kris, thank you for reminding me of what I should have put in this post and didn't--a decent way for people to donate warm clothes. I suggest One Warm Coat, which takes donations of either coats or funds to buy coats. They started in San Francisco but now operate across the country, so you can take part in a coat drive near where you live.

By: Kris Naelapaa

Kris Naelapaa — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 17:33:18 +0000

In the 80’s I took to the woods with a ’66 pickup, a month behind in rent. At the end of a 14 hr work day, I would have loved a warm dry jacket waiting in my tent when I arrived . I was sopping wet, and had $5 a week to eat on. I was disabled with a collapsed spine. We were pd at end of season.
I would have worn anybody’s college jacket!!!!! Warm; that would have been even better! Donate jackets! The more the better. Forgive yourself!

By: Kris Naelapaa

Kris Naelapaa — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 17:23:43 +0000

In the eighties, I was a month behind in my rent, driving without plates with a rusted 1966 pickup. The vehicle leaked into the cab. My plates had expired. I could not afford to drive.
I had a collapsed spine.
Finally, I found an ad for forestry work in the paper. The co. arranged to fix my truck, get new tires, and buy gas to get to Idaho.
I earned gas money to drive from campsite to campsite in WY & ID. I made $5 a week for food. The bulk of our earning were pd at the end of the season.
I would have loved a warm jacket to wear when I returned to my tent, shivering and cold at the end of a 12 hr day, sopping wet.
I could have given a____ about which snobbish Ivy League college had donated it.!!!!! Most of us among the mainstream are indifferent to who attends which university where.
Please donate more jackets to the homeless! Just try to be humble
when doing it!