COPENHAGEN - Homeless alcoholics in Denmark are reaching out to help people who are more in need than themselves -- the victims of Asia's tsunami disaster. "I know how it's like to be without a home and to lose relatives," said Kim Larsen, 51, staying at a shelter for alcohol abusers in the Danish capital. He and others living in Blue Cross shelters across Denmark, a Nordic welfare state, have collected almost 19,000 crowns ($3,381) in a drive launched in protest at the government's initially "stingy" donation of 10 million crowns. "The aim was to send a signal to the government and others that if our homeless people, who rank lowest in our welfare society, can donate money, others should be able to do so," said deputy head Henrik Esbensen of a shelter in a Copenhagen suburb. Larsen gave 100 crowns - around 10 percent of what he has left of his social benefits each month after paying for shelter. "We have a roof over our heads and get food everyday. Those people (local victims of the tsunami) are worse off," he said. Denmark has since increased its aid to Indian Ocean nations hit by the Dec. 26 tsunami to 420 million crowns.

Reuters