Somebody said it's illegal to beg in most places. That may be totally true, but if so, how come

[raccoon]

it's OK for people to stand on curbs or islands at busy intersections, taking up money for some church or organization to help some downtrodden group. At least it must be, they do it all the time here in SC.

[Zephie]

1. I can only assume it's the difference of a single person VS. an NPO

Not that that makes it right. We like to turn a blind eye to the needs of singular people because it's easy to ignore the needs of one person, but when an organization does it we think "oh, we must be doing a LOT of good if we help these guys". It's sad.

[BoWanZi]

2. I will not give money to a beggar holding a sign on the corner but I will freely give money to...

...the fire dept during one of those fill the boot drives.

If beggars had panhandling licenses or permits that proved that they were on the up and up, I would be much more inclined to give to them.

I just don't trust your average corner beggar unless I know first hand that the beggar is in need of help or something. Since I don't trust the average corner beggar, they make me feel very uncomfortable when they look at you trying to make eye contact. However there is a few guys that I know by sight that are official people of need. One is mentally handicapped and the others, I don't know whats up but they need help. I do give to them on occasion.

If they gave permits with a placard or something to real people in need and they hung them from their beggar signs, that would make me much more apt to donate. But you need to make counterfeiting a permit a misdemeanor or something.