"Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you." Matthew 5:42
Yeah, that Jesus guy was Ok on the "love God" and the spiritual stuff, but he really stepped in it talking about helping those in need. Didn't he know they would only spend it on drink?
(I'm with Jesus)
At my old church, the preacher would give small amounts of money to folks that dropped by and figured it was their business on what they were going to spend it on. Later on the Deacons got a variety of gift cards for the local food joints and some bus passes as a way to help out. He would still give out small amounts of cash though.
However, for larger amounts it went through the Deacons. Often a call was for $200 to help pay the utilities. The Deacons would request the utility billing information so they could pay the $200 directly. (Never heard back from). Same with rent, etc. There is now a system in place between the various churches to check on the scammers that make the rounds, often using aliases, calling the various churches.
Of course this does go against the verse you quoted. However, it also helps to keep the limited funds of the church going to folks who need help and that aren’t scammers.