To Give Or Not To Give

On Sunday we made our weekly stop at Wendy's to eat lunch after church.  The line at the window was extra long because there was a large group of Penn State students there eating lunch.  They were part of the annual effort to raise funds to fight cancer in children.  With them was a former staff member of mine, Jackie Miller.  Annually she helps house the students as they come to raise funds with their buckets at busy intersections.  Jackie was there with her son Alex, a fifth grader, who is a childhood cancer survivor.  Actually we see Jackie, Alex, and the PSU students there annually as part of this great statewide effort.  It is a legitimate cause and they raise many thousands of dollars each year for a worthy cause.  I usually ignore folks who gather at key intersections with their buckets because I always wonder how many are legitimate.  I question for example those who say they are raising money to fight hunger - who is getting the money?  A few months ago we saw some ladies who were raising money for a "needy child in Lancaster".  What child?  What is the need?  Could it just be a scam - a way to pocket some quick cash?  Who really knows what happens to money raised by most of these unidentified groups.  But people give.  Folks can be scammed so easily.  Another example are all the pleas for money that come in the mail.  Seniors are especially drawn to these.  We had former good hearted neighbors that sent money to every group that made a plea to them.  They never knew what was happening to their money. Were the filling someone's pockets?  Just last week my wife's widowed step-mother was in a panic over a stack of requests that she had received in the mail. She didn't know how to respond to them - we suggested filing them in the waste can.  Now it is good to have a compassionate heart but I will never understand folks who will so readily part with their money without any accountability. They believe whatever they are told.  But as long as folks are willing to part with their money there will always be folks who will look for ways to take it.  So the question is "to give or not to give"?  I prefer to give, but only to causes that I know are legitimate and accountable, such as my church and missionaries that I know.   I believe that we will be held accountable for the way we use the money that God has entrusted to us.  How are you handling your giving?