What to do with the Panhandler?

   What to do with the panhandler? Is there any social question that stirs church-goers more? These are good people, my church-going friends, but most choose not to give to panhandlers, and there decision is based on sound logic:
   The beggar is often a professional.
   Are we to allow them to come, day after day, year after year, making a living from no more than begging -- and often with a pitch that isn't true? Stories abound of panhandler corruption. There's the one about the panhandler who makes $40,000 a year, and the one about the person who has been begging for 20 years, and the one about how you give them food and they throw it away. In our minds, as we review the stories and size them up . . .
   We turn beggars into pickpockets.
   And, in truth, perhaps many amount to that. So, what to do? Do we give, anyway? Or, do we send them off to the Road Home, saying they can get all the food they need there, all the shelter to keep them warm?
   Are you a person who likes to do your part? If you are, then if you give to the Road Home, it is probably fair to direct them to such services. The question becomes, then, not whether you give to the panhandler, but whether you give to the charities that are taking care of them.
   Another solution would be to seek out the poor. The ones panhandling might often not be in need, but it can be very easy to find a homeless person who does need help: Go downtown, spot them, and approach them with your money or your food.