I do... that is if I have the money & if I have a feeling that it will be spent on things other than booze (even if I have a hunch that they will spend only part of it on booze but part on something else that is needed, I'll still give it). I usually chat with them for a while or the like to get a feel for them.

This is hard to type but it made me who I am today. I am not proud of it but again it made who I am today.
I lived on the streets before, more than once. A few times before I was even out of high school. My father and I did not have the best relationship back then. Only one of the times was it by choice or at least partially by choice. I moved out of state with an ex b/f about 9 years ago, who said we could find a house. Well we never found a house so we were homeless.
I have had to beg for money for food, dog food (Nanook was with me), personal items, etc.. and let me tell you if the person beggin for food has any morals then they will feel ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE asking for money. I know I did. I HATED HATED HATED it but I could not get any help from any organization. With no home to change clothes, take a shower at, etc... there were no job opportunities. It was a ROUGH life and I tried my hardest to get on my feet but it was near impossible without some help from someone.