Why the Peanut Butter Plan is Naïve and Irresponsible

I came across the Peanut Butter Plan, which encourages people to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and go find some homeless people to give them to.

A lot of people will and are already gathering around this simple idea and handing out sandwiches. Their Facebook group has almost 2,000 members and growing, while not an accurate depiction of volunteer involvement, it isn't nothing.

The first thing that occurred to me was how irresponsible and naïve this was; the second was how popular it could become.

It's irresponsible because putting vulnerable people (I'm not talking about the homeless yet, but I'll get to that) without adequate training or supervision in front of homeless people is irresponsible and dangerous.

I read the other day a midwife who took in a homeless teenager was murdered by the boy and he was recently sentenced to life imprisonment. But it doesn't take a tale like that to know it's irresponsible if you have spent any kind of time working with homeless people. And that's no kind of insult to homeless people, they will tell you themselves how dangerous it is on the streets.

People involved in the Peanut Butter Plan say they learned that they need a ‘buddy system' as a layer of safety, but still are encouraging people to take initiative and go out by themselves. What did I say -- naïve and irresponsible.

The list of dangers to untrained volunteers who aren't properly supervised really does just go on and on. You can imagine this idea being brought to a Girl Scout group; straight off you'd hope the adult leaders would identify the dangers and put in place measures to ensure the girl's safety during this activity (not that I would support minors participating). That's properly supervised, when people identify the dangers and put measures in place to protect them. Adults with generous hearts that aren't properly supervised or trained volunteering on the streets are as vulnerable as girl scouts.

I'm sure there are people participating who know they didn't come down in the last shower. Sorry, that's not enough. I'm sure there are people involved who can handle themselves. Sorry, that's not enough and likely to cause more problems. (Right: Image from PeanutButterPlan.org)

Now look on the flip side -- the homeless are also vulnerable. Established service providers adhere to regulations about food preparation standards; in many jurisdictions they also do criminal history checks or at least some level of training and screening of volunteers.

And on the food standard front, in my own work, I don't care what you have to donate, I will know who you are and where that food came from and will check it before it goes anywhere near homeless people.

Another thing that occurs to me is that it's not needed. If anything there is an oversupply of food for the homeless in many cities. Sure there are some where food is needed, but it's the exception to the rule.

Yet another thing... communication between the group that went out on the streets the night before and the group planning to hit the streets tonight... geez if you aren't at least doing that it's amateur hour and even more dangerous. Volunteer groups that do communicate between teams are using the base line of organizational learning. Chatting on Facebook, no, that doesn't count guys, come on.

I've trained and lead thousands of volunteers working with homeless people over the years -- without harm being done to any of them -- because of the quality training. I have also fired volunteers and rejected some volunteer applications.

Some responsibility needs to be taken when putting volunteers and homeless people together. No screening of volunteers is pure and simply negligent.

Now that I've beat up on what, at face value, is a nice idea, let's look at why it will continue to become popular... it's easy to do and a simple idea that makes people feel good. At the very least, a lot of people will join their Facebook group and feel good for doing that, even if they don't hand out the peanut butter sandwiches.

It's an idea that is simple and it will probably grow. But I'd like them to get their game on with volunteer management and put adequate safeguards in place, both for the volunteer's sake and for the sake of the homeless.

All new and emerging ideas to help the homeless go through a teething process and the learning curve is very steep.

I can't remember who said it, but I remember someone once saying something along the lines of ‘so long as you aren't hurting anybody, you can build from there.' Their point was to make sure you have that covered first with what you do, then, and only then... you build from there. Nice advice, but it's actually really super important.

Personally I take pride when people call me a maverick; I love it when people call me an innovator. I stand next to the fact that I have professional qualifications as a Social Worker and many years experience working with homeless people. But I am very devoted to learning, especially directly from homeless people and also from other people in the sector. But the moment you stick your neck out you are open to criticism. Hopefully this is a welcome dose (sorry about the not so gentle, but it's an important point). And running a service via Facebook, doesn't seem credible to me.

So let's give them credit for being innovative, let's call it maverick. Its grassroots and I want to see it work. They have a great and accessible idea that could grow and evolve, but I want them to get their game on with volunteer management and highlight the importance of professional volunteer management to all service providers who enlist volunteer support. Being open to learning especially from those with more insight or experience than you is vital. I hope they take my advice on board.

What is your experience or opinion either managing volunteers, or by being served by them... or for that matter being a volunteer yourself on the issue of volunteer management?

Everyone is welcome to join and contribute to the Homeless Forums, which by the way was an innovative and maverick idea that should have fallen flat, but has gone on to become a really great community thanks mainly to current and formerly homeless people. Check it out and join if you'd like.

Image from Marshed's public Flickr photo stream.