Christmas should be a time for giving, and generosity of spirit, as most of understand. But since Greg Gopman, and presumably many of his tech-industry friends, find the scene on Market Street "grotesque" and S.F. in general just too overrun with "degenerates" for their liking, we have a few ideas for where they might want to donate a few dollars this season. To help improve things, perhaps. Or to apologize for being cruel and thoughtless.

Homeless Youth Alliance
Gopman, for one, wishes that the human "trash" could be moved to another "area." Away from "us." But San Francisco actually has a big problem with homeless youth who often don't fall into the typical categories of mentally ill and/or substance-addicted individuals who make up a large portion of the older homeless population. S.F.'s Homeless Youth Alliance, which serves a large number of LGBT homeless teens, for instance, is facing eviction by their landlord and is doing an end-of-year plea for donations. Give here.

La Casa De Las Madres
This shelter in the Mission provides housing and services to women, teens, and children who are the victims of domestic violence. They also try to raise awareness of domestic abuse in the San Francisco community, and they do a lot of good work. Donate to them here.

Glide Memorial Church
Glide is a radical, amazing, very San Francisco institution that not only provides a spiritual place of gathering for all walks of life, but provides housing, meals, and services to the poor and homeless with a mission to "alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization." Donate here.

Larkin Street Youth Services
It's San Francisco's apparent tolerance of these "dropouts" and "hyenas" that seems to disappoint people like Gopman most. But organizations like Larkin Street have been around several decades trying to offer services and outreach to at-risk homeless youth, many of whom end up engaging in risky behaviors due to their lives on the street. Larkin Street helps an average of 3600 kids a year through their various programs and shelters. Everyone can donate here.

St. Anthony's Foundation
St. Anthony's has been serving meals to the poor, via their dining room, for 100 years in San Francisco. They're now in the process of building a new dining room on Jones Street, and they continue to serve meals, provide recovery programs, and give out clothing to the poor every day. Donate to them here.

Tenderloin Housing Clinic
The THC has been around for over 30 years, and they lease and manage a collection of 17 SROs in the Tenderloin that house the formerly homeless. They also provide social services to their tenants in an effort to help them stay in their housing, and they provide legal assistance to the poor in order to fight unjust evictions, etc. Donate to them here.

Previously: Startup CEO Trashes SF's Homeless 'Degenerates'

We know. Money is tight. Very tight. But people are starving in San Francisco. Not just the homeless, but people you might even know. People close to you. Your friends and family and neighbors. Seriously.

Which is why, even though we stuck this plea in yesterday's Day Around the Bay, we're going to bring this up again today: SF Food Bank has a great dollar-for-dollar (up to $10,000!) deal going on right now. But you have to give today. Why? Because the dollar--for-dollar deal ends tomorrow.

Please visit SF Food Bank for more information, to send them a donation, or whatever. Can afford to give? No problem. You can share this link on your Facebook page, spam it to your pals with disposable incomes, or Retweet it. Just do it today, please.

SF Food Bank, for those of you who don't know, provides nutritious food to low-income families in San Francisco "to ensure that no one goes hungry this holiday season or any time during the year."And in this seemingly endless recession, they're hurting. Bad. Help them out, won't you? (Note: if you don't give, you will make this cat commit suicide.)

In an effort to promote "volunteerism," First Ladies Michelle Obama and Maria Shriver kicked off a national community service campaign today (United We Serve) at the playground of Bret Harte Elementary School. But Obama wasn't just talk; she joined more than 500 local volunteers to redo the school's playground. The new kid-space will include "an edible garden that will have a farmer's market stand where kids and seniors can sell vegetables to raise money for the school," reports NBC Bay Area. The playground is is expected to be completed by 5 p.m. today. (Say what you will about the Obama administraion, you would never have found Laura Bush doing manual labor in the Bayview-Hunter's Point hood.)

Here are some scenes from today's construction.

While Gavin Newsom tours California to tout his successes as mayor of San Francisco -- not to mention spending the weekend at the insider-baseball-y Democratic Convention in Sacramento, along with practically every other SF progressive and wonk -- he hasn't solved San Francisco's ails as thoroughly as he might want you to think he has.

Take, for example, the story of Kelaya and her family. Kelaya took her family and ran away from an abusive situation. She was, as of earlier this month, begging for cash to get a motel room and food for her and her three (3) kids, Dorian, Kameko and baby Marcus. Local photographer and blogger Tangobaby has the full story.

I met this beautiful family on my way home from a photo shoot today. I walked past them, just like the other people on their way home. I admit it. I saw her and sailed on by. I read her sign ($60 for a motel room... you know what kind of motel room $60 will get you in this city).

But I had seen the tears in her eyes, too, and so halfway down the block, I yelled at myself inside my head for being an asshole and went back. I had $30 in my wallet and gave it to her.

Tangobaby updates the story with a few signs of hope: Kelaya temporarily found shelter and will be receiving assistance, which includes "a small stipend ($635 a month) plus food stamps and health care." But it's still not enough.

While finding anything about homelessness on Newsom's site has proven fruitless, the San Francisco mayor talks about 'care not cash,' saying the numbers have improved. But 'care not cash' just isn't working, at least in this case. Yes, Kelaya has a social worker, but it sure doesn't sound adequate to keep her family on its feet. (She doesn't even have a way to keep milk/formula for her baby!)