Laid-off Gary firefighter panhandles on street

[The Straight Story]

Laid-off Gary firefighter panhandles on street

A Gary firefighter laid off in a city cash crunch just before the new year is now panhandling on the street in an effort to make ends meet.

"We took an oath to save people's lives ... and the city just threw us to the curb," Jason Pickering told WGN-TV.

The 34-year-old Pickering, a 10-year department veteran and one of 34 Gary firefighters who lost their jobs, now goes out begging, dressed in his cold-weather firefighting gear, collecting dollar bills in a boot. A hand-made cardboard sign he has strung around his neck reads: "Laid off Gary firefighter. Family of 6. Thank you and God bless."

Since Sunday, he has collected $475.
But he says it's not enough to make ends meet for his wife and four children. At the end of January he will lose his health insurance, and he gets only $350 a week in unemployment compensation.



http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2011/01/laid-off-gary-firefighter-panhandles-on-street.html

[Fire1]

1. Police going next?? Stupidity knows no boundaries. n/t