Remember the Neediest

The masthead of the New York Times today says "Today is Christmas. Remember the Neediest". Even in a city such as Tokyo, surrounded by much wealth, there are many needy. It is easy to overlook them because the homeless in Tokyo do not beg. I've never seen a panhandler here. There are many homeless but you won't see them unless you go to the out-of-the-way to find the "soup lines". Ueno Park in NE Tokyo is a popular place for the homeless to gather and to sleep overnight. My wife goes there on Tuesdays and Fridays to help a church feed 700+. They are almost all old men who have lost their jobs or have mental problems. When I see them I can't imagine what it is like to sleep outside in this cold, damp weather. The only thing my wife asked for for Christmas was 1,000 plastic forks to give to the homeless of Ueno Park so I ordered the kind made from recycled vegetable starch from the US. They last a lot longer than the plastic kind and can be washed and reused many times. Next, I'd like to work on getting sleeping bags for as many of them as possible.

I've read that there has been a recent trend in the US of anonymous people paying off the lay-away items of strangers in stores like KMart and WalMart. That's a great idea - but they don't have law-away in Japan.