November 5, 2024
In 1902, the Rev. Edgar J. Helms started Goodwill, which embodied a philosophy of empowerment through work. Helms was deeply concerned about the plight of immigrants and the urban poor who struggled to find work and support their families. His idea was to collect used goods from the wealthy areas...

In 1902, the Rev. Edgar J. Helms started Goodwill, which embodied a philosophy of empowerment through work. Helms was deeply concerned about the plight of immigrants and the urban poor who struggled to find work and support their families. His idea was to collect used goods from the wealthy areas of Boston and employ those in need to repair and resell these items.

The model was groundbreaking for its time. Instead of just providing handouts, Helms believed in giving people the opportunity to earn their own living, learn valuable skills and gain self-respect through work.

The philosophy of “a hand up, not a hand out” became the cornerstone of Goodwill’s mission.

But today, the model seems to be to make handouts as attractive as possible so that there is no incentive to want better for yourself.

Case in point: San Francisco has opened its first free grocery “market” aimed at providing supplemental food assistance to low-income residents in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

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The $5.5 million District 10 Market in the Bayview-Hunters Point area allows people to get free groceries once per month by showing a special benefits card, according to The Center Square.

The Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood is known as a “food desert” because of high crime rates that have deterred traditional supermarkets from maintaining a long-term presence. The District 10 Market is changing the conventional food pantry model to provide a supermarket-like experience for its low-income residents.

Are taxpayers being pushed to the breaking point?

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Progressives have destroyed American cities on the taxpayers’ dime with lax crime policies — and now these same taxpayers are expected to pay for the “fix.”

The 4,000-square-foot facility is designed to closely replicate a typical supermarket. Participants can browse the aisles, fill their shopping carts and check out without paying a dime.

The District 10 Market’s operations are funded by a substantial $5.5 million grant from the San Francisco municipal government, and it provides high-quality, fresh produce to beneficiaries by sourcing directly from Rodriguez Brothers Ranch, a local farm in Watsonville, California, according to KGO-TV.

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Eligibility is limited to residents of three local ZIP codes who are verified social services clients and meet some other requirements.

The supermarket opened on the heels of California cutting nearly $200 million from its law enforcement budget.

Goodwill’s model recognized that true dignity comes not just from having basic needs met but also from the pride of earning one’s living. Its “hand up” approach aimed to break the cycle of poverty by equipping individuals to support themselves.

In contrast, the $5.5 million investment in creating a “supermarket experience” in the District 10 Market, where everything is free, sends an entirely different message.

By reducing law enforcement budgets, the state risks further business flight and job losses and more dependency on programs like the District 10 Market.

True compassion and effective policy should strike a balance: meeting urgent needs while always aiming to foster independence, self-worth and the ability of individuals and communities to lift themselves out of poverty.

Like many Democratic programs, the District 10 Market, while seemingly compassionate, will do nothing in the long term for the community other than increase dependency, lower self-worth and create a demand for more such markets.


A Note from Our Deputy Managing Editor:

I heard a chilling comment the other day: “We don’t even know if an election will be held in 2024.” 

That wasn’t said by a conspiracy theorist or a doomsday prophet. No, former U.S. national security advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said that to the founder of The Western Journal, Floyd Brown.

Gen. Flynn’s warning means that the 2024 election is the most important election for every single living American. If we lose this one to the wealthy elites who hate us, hate God, and hate what America stands for, we can only assume that 248 years of American history and the values we hold dear to our hearts may soon vanish.

The end game is here, and as Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

All of this means that without you, it’s over. We have the platform, the journalists, and the experience to fight back hard, but Big Tech is strangling us through advertising blacklists, shadow bans, and algorithms. Did you know that we’ve been blacklisted by 90% of advertisers? Without direct support from you, our readers, we can’t continue the fight.

Can we count on your support? It may not seem like much, but a Western Journal Membership can make all the difference in the world because when you support us directly, you cut Big Tech out of the picture. They lose control. 

A monthly Western Journal Membership costs less than one coffee and breakfast sandwich each month, and it gets you access to ALL of our content — news, commentary, and premium articles. You’ll experience a radically reduced number of ads, and most importantly you will be vitally supporting the fight for America’s soul in 2024.

We are literally counting on you because without our members, The Western Journal would cease to exist. Will you join us in the fight? 

Sincerely,

Josh Manning

Deputy Managing Editor

The Western Journal