Feeding the hungry is one of the oldest forms of charity and seems like it should be simple. However, as many know from years of practice, even when food is collected, stored, and distributed efficiently, it still may not reduce dependency or change lives. The good news is that there are innovative approaches to solve the issues created by the standard hand-out model.

Are strategies that seek to go beyond the handout model of charity new? No. On the contrary, Dr. Marvin Olasky’s book The Tragedy of American Compassion demonstrates that charity which promotes challenge, relationship, and spiritual growth was the norm for effective methods of addressing poverty.

  James Whitford Executive Director   Versions of this article were also published by The Federalist and The Joplin Globe. Face masks are “all we’ve got right now to fight this virus, and it is up to…

It may seem like a handout is compassionate, but could it really be developing dependency in the recipient?  What approach affirms the dignity of the individual in need while helping them to overcome perpetual poverty? Mike Ferguson talks…