Left before he could refer him to the Community Kitchen. Left before he tell him other ways to get help. He was found dead outside his house, with a gun lying nearby. It stunned Sterling. They can get food vouchers, clothes from the Salvation Army or Helping Hands or other organizations, emergency shelter.
Nobody has to starve.
But the problem, they say, is the proud, private Yankee character. Some records indicate that towns actually had to approach destitute people before they would accept help, he said. New Englanders tend to be stubborn, to refuse to give up and ask for anything. In the old days, word quickly spread that someone was receiving assistance, he said, though the present system is more confidential. Even when farmers started struggling to provide for themselves, they didn't ask for help, he said.