I gave a guy a cup of coffee when coming out of a McDonalds once - came with the value meal, and I had better stuff at the office. He seemed glad enough of it.
I never give them cash because I suspect that they'll use it at one of the many local liquor stores (this is Forest Park I'm talking here!).
Eh, that doesn't really bother me. I spend plenty of money on liquor and frankly, I probably need it less. Actually, after spending 48 hours on the street as part of an outreach thingy when I lived in Atlanta, I know I need it less.
Joking aside, I find I have some fairly strong feelings about this issue.
My decision to give or not give at a particualar time is, I think, based more on what's going on with me internally than with the person's actual needs, which I can't ever know. So why should I get worked up about what it gets used for in the end? I'm not comfortable using a dollar to make moral judgements.
Now, if I were prepared to give someone the kind of money, assistance, resources, whatever to really make a difference in someone's life, then yeah, a little planning at least would be in order. But all the dollar I give to a homeless person will do, all it can do, is make their day a little better. So who am I to say how they should go about it?
[Kathy, you know none of this is directed at you, right? Just something I've been thinking about.]