Sometimes volunteerism can backfire. In 2005, the Harper family from Georgia were living in a home with a failed septic system. Atlanta based Beazer Homes teamed up with ABC, who aired the popular Extreme Makeover show, to help the Harpers out. They demolished their old home and in 6 days time rebuilt their home. The new home was very lavish and stood out from other homes in the neighborhood. All materials and labor were donated, and ABC also contributed $250,000 towards scholarships for the Harpers' 3 children.

The Harpers, however, gambled and lost with their new home. After a $450,000 collateral loan went into default due to a failed construction business, the home is now set to be auctioned off at the Clayton Co. courthouse. The family refused to elaborate on the situation. Needless to say, the local volunteers who rebuilt the home are less than enthused.

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The homeowner gets MAJOR rolley eyes from me, but I have to disagree with this statement.

Sometimes people need a helping hand. And sometimes poor people are poor for a reason, and no amount of help, beyond maybe education, is going to change their lifestyle in any permanent way.

Still, it's cool the kids all still have scholarships.

Is it bad if I laughed a little?

And volunteering is

There is a part of me that gets all in a tizzy when I read stuff like this. I understand what you're saying, but some people take this line of thinking to the conclusion of "fuck poor people" and that's not something I'm cool about.

are you cool with handjobs for the poor?

Possibly.

I don't mean to say volunteering sucks or anything. However, as a volunteer you sometimes have to be more careful of the cause. There are instances, such as this, where you do something that seems charitable on the outside, but within there's loopholes or other means to make it not worthy of the stated cause.

In this case, it looks like irresponsibility of the Harpers. To take a community volunteer act like this and try to capitalize on it to me is just crap. Obviously, the townspeople aren't happy with them. So if you read my comment as "Don't volunteer", that's the wrong message. The real message should be "Be careful what you volunteer for"

I don't think Hobbes is the kind of guy that would say "fuck poor people." Like, ever.

Oh nice, they gambled. Who to blame? Themselves.

Me neither.

And to Cadogen's point, I don't think there's a problem at all with what these people got involved in (the people rebuilding the house, I mean). It does suck that the homeowners acted like such dumbasses, but that's not why you volunteer for stuff.

I disagree as well.

it's a shame, but it shows why habitat for humanity is a better concept. if you help in the construction, or have something invested in it, you take better care of it.

i'm honestly suprised it hasn't happened before now. i used to really like the show, when it was more like bob villa and they show some of the process. now it's the family story followed by ty running around sears yelling how great sears is, then they bring the family in. 30 damn minutes of "oooooh that's so pretty."

remember when the show used to have a budget and wasn't such a sponsor whore? i bet the people in the first season feel screwed by now. they only produce mini-mansions on the show now.