Hahaha the stranger on the street IS the one that your charity helps.

Atleast then I will have confidence in knowing that the money will be spent on things they need such as food,clothes, and etc. and not on what they want such as alcohol or drugs. 

 WHY do people think that everyone on the street is an alcoholic or a drug addict?  Because its not true. Do I know this for a fact? YES.  This was my topci for my term paper in Sociology.  Some are mentally ill who use drugs and alcohol to hinder their mental illness.  Whatever the case may be...whats .50 cents out of your wallet for the less fortunate.

 $1.00 tip is fine for a $1.00  cup of coffee ProgressoDasani, how many times does "Terri" run back and forth to your table to fill up your cup?  Thats what the tip is for the service not the product!!!

You never know who that person may be and I just hope someone is there to help me up when I need it.  What if the "bum" was god and you were being tested?   I would hate to refuse him a simple donation because I have prejudged.  I have given change, bottles of water, food, etc.  Perhaps a few bucks and a few words of encouragement will help the individual make the right decision.  I give the gift and say a prayer asking that they be helped and guided.  After that I can not control what they do with the money, it is between them and god.

I have and I will give to a person asking for money. Who am I to judge them. A few bad decisions on my part and I could find myself in that position. What they use the money on is obviously what they need at the moment. With Bush's economy going down the drain we will see more homeless people soon. Unemployment is raising everyday and more and more people are loosing their house. Bush will be there to bail out the banks but will he be there to help the people that lost their houses.  

I try not to hand out money if I can. I have before, but normally I prefer to buy them food if they are saying they are hungry or buy them something to drink.

I have had a man ask me for money before to get food. When I offered to go get food with him he told me," No, I just want the money." I didn't give him any.  Now once on a trip to Vegas my husband and I were on our way back to our hotel after buying some beer from the liquor store. A homeless man approached us and asked if he could have a beer.....he got one. Now if he had asked for money he probably wouldn't have gotten any but since he was upfront and willing to ask for a beer we had no problems giving him one.

A while back when I was working in Bako I always stop at the same store after work  to get a snack and the same homeless guy was always there. One day I bought him a beer and I did that every day for a couple of months until my job moved. He always said thanks and we made small talk. And every time that I drove away I thanked my luck stars that I have what I have.

well said bigdog

Hey Julie Olivia says hi and so do I. How are you?

i am headed your way for my kids wedding this weekend...cant wait.  I am good, working etc

I would give this man a dollar or two.........................

I always trust my instincts, say a little prayer and give when I feel led. There have been times I really knew I was supposed to give to someone and times when I really knew I wasn't supposed to. When I do give I feel like I am being obedient and doing as I am commanded and if the person uses the money wrongly then that's on them, I did as I felt led.

There have been times however that I knew money wasn't the thing to give to that particular person so I gave them shoes or a coat or something. One time some people asked me for money to buy diapers. So I told them I would go get some and I would be right back. I asked the baby's size and went around the corner and bought 2 big boxes of diapers and when I returned they we gone-- I don't think they really needed diapers.

So I think God, (whoever that is to you) will give you guidance and leading if you look for it.

I'm new here and just wanted to give my two cents - I've given money to the homeless on the side of the road before... actually I had a similar situation as Alcoholic (the first post)... his sign actually said, "Will work for beer." I gave him a few bucks just for being real - that was many years ago. Since then I've taken to buying them a meal from a fast food place... I'll purchase the meal and then just hand it to them. I figure they'll either choose to eat it, or just throw it away.

I think that missions are awesome!

Many years ago my youngest brother lived in Frisco. The homeless problem there was out of control. He would cheerfully give until one Christmas season. One of his staff members had given him a large Christmas tree-shaped glass jar which she had filled with pennies. Granted, my brother should have had it in a bag, but he's one of those super intelligent people who have little common sense, lol. Anyway, as he made his way up the street to his subway station, he was accosted by a homeless man who demanded my brother give him that jar of pennies, he kept telling my brother if he was that rich, it was his duty to give it to him! My brother finally had to get a police officer to get the man to leave him alone. Since then, he refuses to hand money out to any one begging on the street.  He lives in Germany now, and he really doesn't have that problem there.