Are You a Bad Person if You Give to the Homeless?

Pajamas Media ^ | 10/08/2014 | Robert Wargas

[21twelve]

That is the advice around here too - they have options. We give monthly to a Christian teen homeless center, Union Gospel Mission (men), our church’s alternative teen high school, and our church.

I have been known to give a beggar on the street corner a water bottle out of my cooler on a hot day. Lots of them are scammers too.

[HarleyD]

Some personal experiences:

1) Someone once asked me for some money so they could buy a lunch. I offered to take them in for a meal and then we would go over to an organization I knew about to help him find a job. He quickly disappeared.

2) We have a "homeless vet" that stands near a street corner where I live. As my wife and I were waiting for the light to change, we noticed him pulling out his cell phone and texting someone.

3) A professional pan handler was pulling in $125,000 a year in New York. One day a friend of my got a call from him and he explained that the IRS was auditing the luxury condo building where he was living. They wanted him to explain how he could be out of work, never paid a dime in income tax, and be living in such a fine building. My friend told him he better move to Canada.

There are several other stories that I could give. I don't give to pan handlers and I think people are foolish to do so. They prey upon people's sympathy.

There are many who are in need. I would suggest giving to a reputable charity who will make sure your money is spent wisely.

That being said, there is nothing that breaks my heart more then to see some 20+ year old begging for money. And, on rare occasions, I have been known to bend my rules.