Tag: voluntaryism

South Bend’s Infrastructure Was So Bad When Buttigieg Was Mayor, Domino’s Had to Help Fill Potholes

A few weeks ago, President Joe Biden named former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg as his secretary of transportation, despite his lack of experience in the field.

In fact, the one city Buttigieg was mayor of before suddenly rising to political fame had serious issues with infrastructure during his tenure.

According to the South Bend Tribune, the pothole situation in South Bend, Indiana, was so bad in 2019 that residents contacted pizza chain Domino’s to ask for help.

In 2018, Domino’s launched its “Paving for Pizza” campaign. The idea was to give grants to certain cities in order to ensure a smoother ride for customers carrying out their own pizzas.

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UK COVID Cops Arrest Man For Handing Out Free Soup

Police in the UK arrested a man for handing out free soup in a park, claiming that he had violated COVID-19 restrictions.

Nick Smith had been giving out free soup to people in his village for 17 weeks before Sussex Police intervened, claiming he had violated COVID rules by encouraging people to gather.

However, Smith cited exemptions under the rules for volunteering, which allows for up to 15 people to gather either indoors or outdoors.

Smith said he found the whole experience “very shocking” and insisted he was only trying to help people struggling with mental health issues as a result of the lockdown.

“Showing up every week and being a feature they can rely on is what I wanted to do. They just come because they don’t see anybody they don’t talk to anybody and they’re going crazy,” he said.

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Local Governments Play Scrooge To Stop People from Helping the Needy

It wouldn’t truly be the Christmas season here at Reason without a report about officials trying to shut down a project to help the needy. This year’s tale comes from Roslindale, a suburb of Boston.

There, as the coronavirus pandemic played out, residents looked for ways to help the needy in their neighborhood. A group of volunteers started putting together a community food pantry, salvaging groceries from local stores before they’d be tossed out as waste. A local therapist agreed to host the group’s fridge and freezer in her backyard. The group was serving more than 50 people every Friday.

Then local officials came calling. The Boston Inspectional Services Department warned the volunteers that they were operating an “illegal food pantry” and that they could, if they continued, face $1,000 fines and a year in prison.

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