Question
@haydenhirzel12 asked "How does charity to those living in poverty benefit them in both the short run and long run?"
Response
Charity is always beneficial. Wether the acts of charity are small or large, they always make a difference. For example, someone does not donate $5 to a charity solely because they think it will not have an impact. Initially $5 dollars do not sound like a lot, but possibly out of the $10,000 raised, maybe $3,000 of those were raised by $5 donations. If everyone had the same mindset as the person who did not donate $5, the amount raised would be significantly lower. While acts of charity obviously help an individual for a short period of time, they can also help in the long run. If someone receives charity that temporary removes a stress from their life, over that period of temporary stress release, the individual could focus on other parts of life that would normally come second to that stress. For example, if meals for a month was donated to a family in poverty, the family would be able to put their money to other things for that month that could help in the long run. The saved money could be put to finding jobs, which could ease food insecurity in the future. While one month in an entire lifetime of a family seems like a short period of time, it could create an opportunity for that family. To move the world away from poverty, more opportunities need to be made available for those in need.