I lived in Asia as a child. There where lots of beggers. Mum never gave them money. Always gave them food.
I do the same when is see homeless in Australia.
Charities admit they only give $1 in 11 to intended cause. So I say give directly to poor cut out middle man.
i gave a bottle of home made wine to a renter i had beause i felt sorry for him at christmas, all alone with no gifts or family and the next day i saw him out in the driveway trying to sell it to the mailman which he did for a few dollars. he was a junky.
Wow. I had a junky stay at one of my houses and they smashed it up didn't pay rent or electrical bill. I was glad when he went to jail for bashing his younger girlfriend
Travelling around in Europe, some places would have little cards on the table reminding people not to give money to gypsy beggars, as it only encourages them to beg instead of working. I saw plenty of buskers and street performers around - they got my change - but not the ones who just block your way with their hands out.
Grew up in Sydney and saw plenty of junkies all with some made up sob story. One would tell people that her partner abandoned her and took all her money, and all she needed was to get home to Newcastle. Saw her do that almost every night for 6 months, must have asked me more than a dozen times.
So many of these beggars are junkies and scammers.
They all have a sob story