You may have noticed that campus sidewalks have become markedly more difficult to navigate over the past week. In the physiological aftermath of pumpkin pie and leftover turkey dinner/sandwiches/soup, many locals have decided it’s time to shape up. They plod along, water swishing in their Nalgene bottles, keys clinking in their pockets, and sweat away their Thanksgiving pounds while their iPods shuffle.
And yet, despite this rediscovered dedication to self-betterment, the Daily Bread Food Bank has reported its lowest yield of Thanksgiving food-drive supplies in years. Although we are used to hearing this claim, this time the numbers truly are staggeringly low. One would imagine that those pudgy joggers would want some random act of kindness to ruminate over as they get their cardiovascular workouts. So why, at this time of cider-induced jollity, is the food bank-a most necessary institution-coming up short?
The answer is because it’s not only the joggers creating sidewalk traffic; the “Binder People” also play a part. Likely you keep an eye out for them as you walk along-crossing the street when you spot the two-person teams on either side of the walkway traffic.
In their efforts to ensure a steady base of day-to-day donations, organizations like Greenpeace have created a street-staff of solicitors. Mostly young and attractive, they smile and ask you if you have a moment to save a child, save the world, spare some change. The impetus is understandable: the organizations are trying to garner a large number of small donations to supplement their base funding.
However, the street-solicitors have become so omnipresent and aggressive that all they generally solicit now is scorn. Especially on St. George campus, where residents are constantly asked to share their pocket change with the homeless, newspaper vendors, and the like, another outstretched hand is often just too much to take. Pedestrians snuff out any glimmer of philanthropy that may ever have existed.
These canvassers are seen most commonly at the downtown campus, near the hub of student life (no, not Hart House-Robarts). In the past week, a small group of students congregated with home-made signs and boxes, asking those entering and exiting Robarts to donate some change to Kashmir Earthquake relief. Pedestrians whizzed by them without looking up, totally missing the earnestness of the campaign. This disdain-turned-ignorance, it seems, has even now extended to charitable organizations at large, like the Daily Bread.
The paradox of the situation is that to effectively fulfill their function, charities have had to commercialize. However, we have become so jaded to commercial exploitation that we forget it is not WalMart asking for our pennies, but sick children and a sick world that demand our attention. While canvassers may seem like pests, it is crucial that we make an effort to overcome compassion exhaustion. When we feel a tinge of annoyance at the Binder People, we don’t necessarily have to cough up change, but we do have to remember that Sick Kids is really about sick kids, and ensure that charity doesn’t get overlooked.
