To give or not to give

  • Thread starter Thread starter AlruwhAlquds
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

AlruwhAlquds

Guest
Do you all give to beggars/panhandlers/homeless? Do you give to the ones who consistently hang around the same area (for years at a time)? Is it a sin to ignore them?

I have a difficult time not giving, even a little bit if I have it. However, if my spouse or children need it first, then my family is first of course. We give and donate elsewhere often (at church and other organizations).
 
Last edited:
I follow the lesson Christ gave us in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

I do not just hand money to people. I carry with me the resource guide for my area, I know every shelter, every soup kitchen, etc. I direct people to these places and donate to those places, the same way the Samaritan took the beat up man to a facility and made a donation.
 
AlruwhAlquds said:
Do you all give to beggars/panhandlers/homeless? Do you give to the ones who consistently hang around the same area (for years at a time)? Is it a sin to ignore them?
Click to expand...
I give to charities that help the homeless and who are equipped to deal with their many issues, and I do not give to panhandlers. These charities also know the real needy from the scammers.

I have occasionally purchased meals for homeless and panhandlers hanging around some fast food places— or purchased gift cards and passed them out.

My college roommate used to carry meals sacks she made at home with apples and Powerbars and things like that in them to give to the homeless. More than one cursed her out or spit on her when she tried to give it to them. They wanted money, for liquor or drugs.
.
 
yes. bless the coins and then give them 1$ every time. It’s not much, but it releases you of great burden thinking about it and making a decision.
 
I don’t. I give to charity, for similar reasons listed above.
 
Yes. I actually asked my priest about this - we have one guy that hangs around after mass. Twice I have witnessed them being offered food or water and they say they would rather have money. Father told me outright that some of them aren’t genuine and many of them have problems we can’t fix. He said the best thing to do is pray for them and support the charities that help them. (Because I was concerned that I had not given them anything and brought It up in confession). We don’t have a lot of rough sleepers in my town and I am told by the local charity that helps them that we are not supposed to give money as it stops them accessing services. I have given water and fruit before. I won’t open my purse in the street because of the reasons above and I don’t think it’s a smart thing to do. I no longer feel bad about not giving money and you shouldn’t either. You can smile and say hi, or give food and water and you will have helped them
 
Last edited:
I myself live by rule that unless I have reasonable impression that money I give away will be misused, I should give money to person. However I am a student, I am by no means rich neither do I have enough to give to others all the time… yet nothing I have comes from me but belongs to God. However, once I see someone like that smoking or drinking, I stop giving them money.

When I was very little child, my mum and me would occasionally buy newspaper from guy who obviously did not have home at the time. We would leave him with a bit more. Said newspaper agency employs such people and helps them… and now, 10 or more years later, that guy probably has his own place, looks very clean and pretty normal. But I will never forget how he started and tried his best, neither his teary eyes when he received money.

I have also been “scammed” many times and saw people misusing money I gave them. But I did my part- sin is not mine and I didn’t know I would just give them ability to sin. But I make sure I never repeat it. I guess giving money to those who try their best to do something to earn it would be wiser than my current method though… so I might change approach.

Still, there were few occasions when I somehow lost or wasted money I needed for something important as kid, and I was helped by random people most of the time. It was just bus money or once 2€ to pay for pizza in restaurant (ironically I gave 2€ to deaf people and then was short on money to pay for our order… ), insignificant for those people… but it did really help.
 
Now that weed is legal in many jurisdictions, just carry some with you and hand it out. I’m betting that more will accept it than job offers.
 
AlruwhAlquds said:
Do you all give to beggars/panhandlers/homeless? Do you give to the ones who consistently hang around the same area (for years at a time)? Is it a sin to ignore them?
Click to expand...
Church teaching is to feed the hungry. How you go about it is a prudential judgment.

It would be a sin to do absolutely nothing - but fortunately, you have some choices that have been spelled out for you in this thread, including: 1. Give cash directly 2. Give in-kind donations directly (e.g. gift cards, a warm meal) 3. Donate time, (volunteer work) talent (special skills), and/or treasure to a charity that fulfills their needs. Just choose what you feel most comfortable doing and what makes the most sense to you.

Also, if you feel awkward passing a beggar, don’t. Unless you see any serious, overt red flags against it, greeting them with a hello, good-morning, or God-bless goes a long way to validating that their as human as the rest of us.
 
Last edited:
It is really a very complex thing - it’s actually a thing that people become ‘institutionalised’ and can no longer function off the streets. Is a guy in town whose daughter has tried to take him in, he will stay with her a night or two and then chooses to go back to the streets. He is addicted to the lifestyle although that makes no sense to you and I. I honestly think that my priest is right - we are best off supporting the charities who truly understand the issues and smile, give what we feel comfortable giving and set boundaries around what we are not
 
po18guy said:
Now that weed is legal in many jurisdictions, just carry some with you and hand it out. I’m betting that more will accept it than job offers.
Click to expand...
Is this observation intended to be made in a spirit of Christian charity? Is it intended to be a constructive solution to a very real problem for many people?
 
“you can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness…”

Basically, those people get used to be victims and hating world for what happened to them. If they did do something about it, it would feel like they are conforming to this hated society. It’s hard to light the candle, easy to curse the dark instead. Unfortunately this is not only limited to homeless… there are many forms of this phenomenon and it appears way more than it should.
 
Last edited:
In my own case, I don’t give money to random strangers on the street.

Back when I was living with my mother (two people trying to live off a one-person Social Security check), I gave money to two men with a sob story who then headed right for the liquor store. My mother could have used that money for meds. So from now on the answer is NO.

I did, however, buy a soda for somebody in McDonald’s about two weeks ago. He asked for a soda, not money, and if it’s that important to him I might as well buy it for him.
blackforest said:
Church teaching is to feed the hungry. How you go about it is a prudential judgment.
Click to expand...
Absolutely.

(1) In the U.S. we must pay taxes to support a social safety net for the poor.

(2) We also must support our Church (according to our prudential judgment) and some of this support goes to the poor.

(3) Beyond that we are expected to support private charities/individuals (again according to our prudential judgment). How much I give and to what or whom is a matter between me and God.
 
I’ve had experiences like yours and I normally don’t give now either. I feel bad when I don’t though. Most of the time though I never have cash on me anyhow.

I was talking with one of the deacons at my parish, and he said that the gifts (monetary) that he receives from doing baptisms, etc he uses to help people are in need. His feeling is it’s not his money anyhow. He said he never gives them a lot, but figures it is in Gods hands.

I also heard of a priest who always kept a number of $1 bills on him and at most he would give a beggar $1.
 
I will give them a meal or something tangible. I almost never give money. Many of them are addicts and even giving a meal can prolong their time in the streets and keep them from getting into recovery. I should give to homeless shelters-- sometimes I serve breakfast there. I usually support St. Vincent de Paul or other groups who are trying to help prevent people from becoming homeless.
 
One question I always have about some of these international charities that advertise on TV is:

How do I know if my contribution actually goes to the people who need it? How do I know which of these charities is legitimate, which are scams, and if the money I donate will just go into the coffers of some corrupt government officials in those countries?

Ditto for food programs. How do I know that foreign governments, that are often corrupt, won’t prevent their needy citizens from actually receiving the food?

Years ago, I got solicitations in the mail asking for funds to help provide medicines to treat people with leprosy. I felt that was a good cause, so I contributed. But later, when I called the telephone number for that charity and asked what percentage of the donations they get actually went to treat lepers, they stonewalled my question and refused to tell me. I never gave them another dime.

Any honest charity will declare up front how much goes to their causes and how much pays for administrative expenses and overhead. If they don’t want anyone knowing this, they are operating in secrecy to an extent, and are asking us to simply trust them.
 
No, I do not. I support groups which provide food, shelter and clothing to the homeless. However, some homeless suffer from abuse of alcohol and/or druges (I will leave it toothers to determine how many, but certainly there appears to be evidence that many do) and I choose not to do something I consider enabling.

I have heard of or read of several studies which have put the amount collected panhandling at about $30/per hour for those sitting at stop signs/lights. and some of them spend several hours a day doing so. I choose not to participate.

There are numerous agencies, both governmental and non profit devoted to working with the homeless. I am willing to support them. Catholic Charities in particular is effective; i have heard their ads, with the tag line of giving a hand up, not a hand out. and they appear to be very effective.

There is an obvious emotional pull to give. I choose to not make my decisions based on emotion, but rather logic. I prefer to see something done which is effective, rather than something likely to perpetuate the situation. I don’t say that in judgement; I think there are far more effective ways of truly helping.
 
Good question to ask. I donated my hair years ago to a group for children who suffer from cancer. Turns out they used my hair to sell it to these women and children. I had no idea, never donate to Locks of Love.

As far as the other solicitations in the mail, I hate it when they send me decorative envelopes and etc. If I am donating to your organization, I do not want to see pretty paper and ads with your letter asking me for money. I don’t want to see a small free gift most of the time, because that’s where my donation is going – not the poor they want to give it to.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top