From time to time I'll leave the quarter in the cart at Aldi!
This is a fun thread. I like to give but I usually never tell anyone about it. Something about giving for giving's sake I guess and not wanting to puff my already silly ego. I do have a favorite though and I don't think I've ever shared it with anyone. Seems nice to write about it on a semi anonymous forum.
I feel the same, but for the sake of spreading good vibes, I'll share a couple.
I agree with some posters that beggars can sometimes be pushy and out for the wrong reasons, but 1) it's not my place to judge, 2) everybody has a story, and 3) I feel like the ones with good hearts sometimes get the short end of the stick because of the few bad apples.
This past Thanksgiving, my wife and I bought an extra turkey, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, green beans, and rolls, whipped it all up, portioned it out into ~15 servings, and drove around the city passing out plates to the homeless on street corners. Seeing their eyes light up was priceless. We are making it a yearly tradition.
Another time, there was an older homeless guy that would hang out near the grocery store where we shopped. After seeing him a few times, I decided to bring him all of our leftovers one night, and sat there hearing his story for around an hour. Turns out, he spent most of his life well-employed, with a wife and family. He was very candid in saying his life fell apart when his wife had unexpectedly passed away, and he had taken to the bottle to kill the hurt. I believe he was equally grateful to have a meal as he was to have a chat. I'll never forget that guy.
No matter the price, small gestures like these are always worthwhile.