Acknowledge Me Homeless Benefit at Mohawk Saturday

Acknowledge MeBenefit at Mohawk Saturday
Saturday, Dec. 6
The Mohawk (912 Red River)
$5 with donation, $6 without. Door at 8pm.
[info]

Real talk: the vast majority of us don't give a second thought to ducking our heads and shuffling past the people we see downtown every weekend. Some of us will even drive past the guy waving us into an open parking meter spot, just to avoid any awkwardness--you know who you are. Well, Saturday night provides us with a 100% stress-free way to give a little something back to our community: Mohawk's Acknowledge Me! Winter Assistance Drive features Austin's own golden boys, the, um, Golden Boys, headlining an all-Austin bill that also features noisemongers When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth, Pataphysics, and newcomers Persimmons Literature, alongside D.I.Y. artist/craft booths selling all kinds of fun, non-mass-produced goodies for you and your loved ones. (Plus delicious vegan food.) All for the el cheapo price of $6, or $5 if you bring a donation (House The Homeless has specifically requested gloves and beanies, but toiletry items are also appreciated). That stuff is, like, $2 at Walgreen's; for the cost of half a tallboy, you can keep someone's ears/fingers from freezing off. Even in today's wintry economic climate, that oughta bump you right to the top of Santa's "Nice" list.

Acknowledge Me! website
Golden Boys MySpace

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By matthew dewitt in Arts & Entertainment on December 5, 2008 3:22 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Wes

Amen to both of the above posts. Hospitality is a big part of Austin's economy and it will suffer if the city doesn't start cracking down on aggressive panhandling.

davetx

I've started avoiding parking around the Red River area just because of the army of "space locaters". (It's particularly absurd when they're waving to you to a space on a street where every space is empty)

Like you, c.o., I'm not only aware of but am a contributor to groups that provide assistance to the homeless, but am sick to death of being hit up for handouts every time I go to that area of town.

I don't mind someone in passing asking me if I can spare a buck, but the parking situation has grown tiresome, and worse are some of the blatant lies/scams that get thrown around there.

causal observer

just because we duck past the many, many folks who ask us for a handout every day, doesn't mean we don't give it a second thought. i don't know what the solution is to homelessness. but it is mighty off-putting to be accosted day in and day out by people asking me for my money as i'm headed to my job to work hard and earn a paycheck. i donate money and food to the food bank and house the homeless, where those resources can be maximized. it sucks to silently give to those organizations, and then be insulted for not giving money to the guy who waived me into a parking space that i seriously found without his help. as a woman who sometimes drives and parks alone at night, safety concerns are at the front of my mind. it can be scary to get out of the vehicle when a stranger is standing there expecting you to give him something for doing nothing. what kind of acknowledgment is this benefit suggesting? i acknowledge that there's a problem, and that it takes good people to contribute to a solution. i applaud these organizations for specifying the products and supplies they desperately need, and hooray for holding a drive to stock up. but i will not feel guilty about saying no to each and every request for change, or for driving on to the next spot when there's a stranger waiving me into the one immediately available.