A few weeks ago, I posted a piece that questioned whether we should give money to homeless people. It was titled, Self-Reliance vs. Social Responsibility, and I essentially concluded that if you’re going to give money to the homeless, there are more efficient ways to do so than direct giving. You can seek out organizations that will use that money in an attempt to help get people the help they need, whether it be drugs, alcohol or mental illness. I was combing through some headlines at CNN.com the other day and I came across an article about one such program, known as Pimp This Bum.
A father-son team came up with the idea to ask homeless people to trade their signs that said things like “Homeless, hungry, anything helps” for ones that simply adorned the web address, www.pimpthisbum.com. Watch the video on the site if you have a few minutes. I was especially struck by the question, “do you want to get off the streets?” The man responded – part of me does, but part of me wants to lay out here and drink myself to death on the concrete. About 6 minutes in, the man (I think this guys name is John) makes an interesting comment, saying – the handouts don’t really help, because they don’t change anything. I don’t know.
The site raised around $50,000 to help this fellow – through donations directly on the site. They used the money to put him into drug and alcohol rehabilitation and are working to permanently get him off the streets. I’m going to use that word again, sustainability. They’re trying to find a sustainable solution. This shows, up close and personal, how much power the internet has to connect people. How well people can rally behind a cause. I really admire the people who founded and maintain this site, because they’re actually doing something to make the world better. They aren’t making a dime off of this project. They’re simply changing the world and making it better. People helping people.
Obviously, the name is offensive. I think that’s one of the strengths of the campaign, though, from a marketing perspective. It might offend you, or make you uncomfortable, or make you laugh – but it isn’t some high and mighty approach to make you feel guilty. It takes a concept that’s already commercial – the idea of “pimping” something – and cleverly applying it to a universal problem. Personally, I like it. I’m not offended by it. I’m too impressed to be offended.
I feel like I can tell that the site’s founders are thinking big. They’re making their splash by helping one or two local homeless people. They’re acting locally, at home where they can see it and feel it, but there’s a global feel to the project. This is the sort of thing that has the potential to grow if enough people get behind it. It’s a logical, sustainable approach, and it’s exactly the kind of thing that people can get behind, because it works. For myself, and for all of you, I hope we can attack something we believe in as intelligently as this site attacks some of the world’s oldest problems – hunger, homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, etc. in one fell swoop. Check out the site, and let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks for reading.
P.S. - Josh’s post on the Home Gym was included in a fitness blog carnival over at Weight Master. Check it out.
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Thanks for this.
One of our devout followers notified me of this posting about our site. All I can say is WOW, and thank you for ‘getting it’. You described what we are doing better than we could describe it ourselves. We do hope to expand and apply the same model, or similar model, across the world. Once we achieve 501(c)3 status (delayed due to the fact that we didn’t foresee this becoming quite so big) we hope to make it our life’s work. Great, great story, I can’t thank you enough for writing it.