During hard times, churches and charity organizations don't have a lot of money to spend on charity either.
'Ya know, since you brought up churches, I must say that many who claim that America is a Christian nation are the same people who oppress the poor. But what does the Bible have to say about this? Plenty:
Prov. 14:31 Anyone who oppresses the poor is insulting God who made them. To help the poor is to honor God.
Prov28:27 If you give to the poor, your needs will be supplied! But a curse upon those who close their eyes to poverty.
Prov22:9 Happy is the generous man, the one who feeds the poor.
Luke 6:20-21 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: 'Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
1 John 3:17-18 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
Psalm 12:5 "Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise," says the LORD. "Then I will protect them from those who malign them."
Proverbs 14:31 He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
Proverbs 22:22-23 Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them.
Proverbs 28:27 He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.
Proverbs 31:8-9 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."
Ezekiel 16:49 "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy."
These are just a few quotes from the Bible. There are a total of 131 quotes where the needs of the poor are addressed, in both the Old and New Testament. But my favorite quote is actually not from the Bible. It is from Stephen Colbert, who hits the nail squarely on the head:
“If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.”
To those who have no wish to help the poor, but who do not claim America to be a Christian nation - I have no problem with you. You are being honest. My beef is with those hypocrites who wear Christianity on their sleeves, but have no clue to what Christianity entails, while preaching that the poor deserve what they get. Those are the ones referred to by Jesus Christ when he talks about a very special place in hell reserved just for the hypocrites.