www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/01/ship.to.shelter/index.html?iref=mpstoryviewThe Cooperative Feeding Program is working with the private industry of cruiselines to help the homeless in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
More and more ships are helping. They collect shampoo and soap that goes unused by customers that would normally just be thrown away and give it to charities.
I just saw a news story about this on KCAL and looked up this article.
Beneficiaries interviewed on the news said that a shower makes all the difference when job hunting.
From the article:
Like many other charitable organizations in these grim economic times, the Cooperative Feeding Program has seen donations drop dramatically.
"The donations aren't there, the cash donations in order to be able to have expenditures like that to us have become a luxury item. If we have to decide between people having shampoo [or] people having something to eat, we're going to opt to have the food for them." (Director of CFP)
With the cruise line's donations, now the program will no longer have to make that choice. And since the program started, Forman said, there has been an increase in the number of people coming to the shelter to use the showers.
Amazing.
