Under the Tree: The World's Christmas Present for the Homeless

  What wonderful gifts for the needy there were under the tree that Christmas Day in 2017 -- gifts from the whole world for the homeless, for the refugees, for the sick, for those in prison, and for those whose reputations had been tarnished.
   For the homeless: Acceptance. The world ceased herding them away, shifting them from locations where they weren't welcome, to those where they were less visible. Businesses, residents, and communities had not wanted them, fearing their dirtiness and their crime. But, that changed. The homeless were made harmless. A new program, called Friends Behind Badges (or Buddies Behind Badges), flooded the homeless districts with police officers. It was hard for a drug sale to go down when the police were just steps away. But, these were not ordinary police officers. Hired just for this occasion, they were picked for their jobs because of their compassion. They didn't just stand on the street corners, waiting for crimes to go down so they could hustle someone off to jail. No. they mingled with the homeless, befriending them, joking with them, and playing basketball on make-shift basketball courts set up in the middle of the streets.
   Social workers? There were other things going on besides Buddies Behind Badges. Social workers didn't wait for the homeless to show up in their offices, but rather went into the homeless districts and sought them out. But, what impressed me was not the paid social workers, but the volunteers who came. Unpaid and with smiles on their faces, they too mingled with the homeless, offering friendship, care,  comfort, and direction. Some brought work, bringing the things needed to make paper flowers and showing the homeless how and paying them for it. Others came early in the morning, seeking workers for construction and yard work and house cleaning.
  I told you the streets had been blocked off didn't I? (Well, I implied as much when I said basketball courts were laid out in the middle of the streets.) So, they brought in entertainment to fill the streets. Comedians took time to come down and perform. Musicians performed. Actors played portions of their plays in these streets.
  Although there were a lot of neat things going on with the way the homeless were now being treated, perhaps the neatest of all came along about 5 p.m. each day, when cars lined up as people got off work, hustling over to bring the homeless their meals.
  Or, how about later in the evening, when workers walked through the areas they thought the homeless might be, offering to take them into homeless shelters? The thought was that no one needed to sleep on the streets; beds would be found and made available. That, too, was neat. 
  Well, I should like to tell you about the gifts the other needy people received. Come back tomorrow, and perhaps I will. Surely, I can think of gifts for the for the refugees and immigrants, for the sick and the elderly, and for the prisoners.

(Note: The second to the last paragraph was added 12/23/17.)