From The Week:

Over the holidays, when 7-year-old Jonathan Slack saw a destitute woman in Chicago with a sign that said she had no place to live, he was moved to tears—and then to action. He wrote a letter to his community of Orland Park, Ill., asking residents to help the homeless, distributing photocopies around the neighborhood. Within 10 days, Jonathan’s neighbors responded with four trucks of food and toys, which he sent to Chicago’s Su Casa Catholic Worker homeless shelter. “I’d like to think it was divine intervention,” said his mother.

On the flip side:

A San Antonio councilman has proposed making it a crime to give money to beggars. Councilman John Clamp says residents are tired of “aggressive panhandling,” and that prosecuting those who give to the homeless is the best solution. “If there’s no money for panhandlers,” Clamp says, “the panhandlers will go away.”