I have a personal aversion to giving money/cash to panhandlers on the street. That is because I assume, rightly or wrongly, that s/he will take that cash to buy booze or drugs. What I do instead is to take the person to the nearest fast food place and buy them a meal. At worst, a halfway decent meal can’t hurt them, whereas the booze and drugs certainly can.
That’s very practical. Another way to assist street people is to contribute to a rescue mission.
I also ignore the street corner ‘pan handlers’. As they appear only during morning and evening rush hour when folks are stuck in traffic, there isn’t a chance to take them to a local fast food place. My compliments to EdinVA for doing that.
I guess my soul will just rot in hell for it.
And it is interesting, going by the same corners after rush hours find the beggars gone.
A few years ago Howie Carr went out to the street to offer panhandlers a choice, a 10 dollar gift certificate to MacDonalds or 5 dollars in cash. He came back with all his gift certificates.