Shawn, GOD BLESS YOU. Great answer.

Thank you for your response. In my mind the crime is letting our seniors die from malnutrition.

I would do the same. It all depends on the item stolen: if they are in desperate need or if its just a sport. Anyone in need has my support and I'd buy it for them. If it's for the "thrill" well, I hope custody gives enough because theft is a crime we all pay for.

Kindness is never forgotten

Yes, that would be better. And no loss of respect, either. Best, Janie

Very true

I still get a bag of groceries for $12 from Anglicare every pension day. It works out to be around $35 in total value! I go to the supermarkets and buy whatever fruit and vegetables are on clearance, Mondays after lunch is a good time because the weekend rush is over and they have to get ris of the salads, mushrooms and berries before the next trucks come in with fresh stuff. I've often ended up with a fortnights supply of dinner vegetables for less than $20 and there are online stores which sell the "imperfect" fruit and vegetables which Coles, Woolworths etc reject and for about $45, delivery included, I end up with over 6 kgs of fruit and vegetables which lasts me 3 weeks and I use the stuff which will go bad soonest and the cabbage, potatoes and pumpkin I leave till last. I know that the aid organisations have tightened up on what grocery store card amounts they give and how frequently but they also limit how many they give out annually too. The best places are the ones that get food deliveries as well as bread and if you're lucky enough to live nearby to one and you're not overly fussy you can eat almost for free! Being in Australia too I wanted to cover everything in case there's someone else reading this who might benefit from these services! Thanks for reading.

I wasn't aware of imperfect fruit and vege. That's a good one,as someone who has received assistance before that was something I couldn't always afford. I live rural so I now tend to swap with neighbours as I grow some fruit and vege,the rest I go to farmers markets. Mainly because it's locals helping locals. Many farms sell excess on the main road outside their home with an "honour" box to pay. More ideas the better. So many doing it tough,gotta help each other as much as we can.

Especially the farmers!

Its getting to a point where were all gonna go into the grocery store and just open up something and eat. what are they gonna do arrest all of us? :) hhehe Ready to eat meals are easy target.

I would imagine that I'd feel differently on this occasion!

It sounds like a good place you live in! With the elderly, and taking my own father as an example who is turning 85 years old next week, often they are too proud to seek help unless they are truly desperate and they feel wrong just going to a place like a community pantry. They've never accepted help like this before and prided themselves on not needing to. I think that stealing is a last resort but often the elderly have no concept of just how many different types of surveillance technologies are watching them. I'm SO tired of having to call over the already busy person manning the self service checkout because the computer thinks I've still got something in my trolley or I moved a bag out of its range. I don't think anyone but the desperate would attempt to steal at a grocery store if they knew that Big Brother was watching them 10 different ways!

This is often true but some people, unless they've had it REALLY tough, don't understand the large amount of basic grocery items they can buy with the same money that they just spent on one meal of useless calories at McDonald's! Some people grew up not knowing how to make a "meat and 3 veg" dinner or just how easy it is to make pancakes or pikelests at home for an after school treat. I used to do informal fostering through my church and these kids lived on either fish fingers, party pies and sausage rolls served with the obligatory chips and frozen peas. Their health was TERRIBLE and one child actually asked me what beans and carrots were! He was 5! I am forever grateful to have had a mother who though not actually academically smart was brilliant when it came to making do with little and making stuff that used cheap cuts of meat which were tender and delicious! She's been dead 21 years but I mention it now because my brother and I used to call her "mother dumb" and I wish with every fibre of my being that I could apologise to her, repeatedly, and tell her that what she taught me was more valuable than all the gold in the world! Sorry, tears falling now and I hope that you have a good day!

I would suggest to you Michelle that she knows you truly lived and appreciated everything she did as a loving mother. Sometimes we say things that aren't complimentary to each other,but it doesn't change the affection and care we have for each other. My mother was a hard woman,lived a hard life I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. For a long time I couldn't relate to her at all. Felt she was uncaring and cold. As an older person now with my own family I look back and wonder how on earth she managed Woking full time,raising myself and my siblings while in constant pain. I learnt so much from her and gained a personal strength I wouldn't have had she not been who she was. I will always be thankful for that.

OR THE GREED DISPLAYED DURING RIOTS AND LOOTING? IS CORPORATE GREED TO BLAME FOR THE BLM LOOTING??

I wish you were wrong in your assessment but if the person stealing stuff had an active mental illness then they'd pull the gun out first and discuss the shoplifting later, like after the person who was stealing was dead by cop!