Operation Stand Down

On Sunday, we volunteered through Sharp Healthcare (my employer) at Operation Stand Down, an event put on by the San Diego community to help homeless veterans. Other Stand Down events are held all over the country for the estimated 200,000 homeless veterans. The Stand Down is modeled after the Stand Down concept used during the Vietnam War to provide a safe retreat for units returning from combat operations. Stand Down afforded battle-weary soldiers the opportunity to renew their spirit, health and overall sense of well-being. (Can you tell I copied and pasted that from the website?)

There was a pharmacy tent, but as I do not yet have my license (blast you CA Board of Pharmacy!), we worked in the clothing tent. We sorted clothes, helped veterans and their families pick out items, and helped tear down when the event was over. It was a great experience. And we got some free, sweet T-shirts!

We met some other Sharp workers with roots in the Midwest and got some good advice on living in San Diego. One woman was telling me about a place with great burgers, "But it's a bar. So...you have to be 21." I told her I was almost 25. She said, "Oh."

There are definitely more homeless people in San Diego than anywhere else I've lived. I suppose if I had to live outdoors, I'd rather spend the winters (and summers!) here than in Iowa. I often struggle with how to treat the homeless. I've been told my whole life, "Don't give them money, they'll just use it for alcohol or cigarettes," etc. Yes, that may be true. But it may not. Who am I to decide? And I find it less than coincidental that even though I have been "conditioned" my entire life to NOT give charity to beggars, I still have a pang of guilt when I pass someone by. Is it the Holy Spirit trying to tell me the RIGHT thing to do, despite me trying to rationalize it away? There have been a couple times since we moved here that I have really felt like God was telling me to give, and I have spared a couple dollars for the man with the sign. I don't know that money is the answer, but I know that God didn't give us an innate desire to help people for us to do nothing. I don't have all the answers (or any answers...) but these are certainly things to mull over.

Operation Stand Down from accross the interstate