No one is under any obligation whatsoever to donate anything to anyone. All
@Juxtapose was saying is that he doesn’t trust donating to these pots or funds precisely because of things like this situation with Art, and you not knowing for 100% certainty that your money is going to exactly what you’re donating it for.
Reminds me of a situation that has happened to many people, but I experienced a few years ago. There was a guy at a gas station near the front of the building. Approached me asking if I had any money to spare because he was hungry and thirsty and hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for days. I said, “no problem, what would you like?”. He said “anything works, $1, $5, whatever I can spare”. I said “no, I mean what would you like to eat & drink from inside? I’ll get it for you”. He hesitated and looked confused, then said “well I also need money because I need gas to get home. I’ve been stranded here with no money”. I said “I don’t have cash, but I can get you something to eat and a drink, or I can get you like $10 or so worth of gas”. He says “oh, $10 would be great!”. I said “okay, which pump should I tell them?”. And again he looked at me confused. Then he says “can you not just give me the $10?”, I said, “no, I told you I do NOT have cash, and why does that matter anyway?”. He just got angry and walked away while saying “I can’t believe people won’t help others in need, I need MONEY!”. I just stood there dumbfounded… then just went about my day. If he would’ve been 100% honest from the start, maybe I could’ve tried to help him out, but who knows what he really wanted money for, because it wasn’t even for gas as he claimed let alone for food & water.
You’re not a bad person for not trusting someone or an organization or whatever that is asking for donations. Everyone thought Art was super trustworthy, including myself (and until ACTUALLY proven otherwise, still do). I have known him for over a decade now. But unless you can physically see exactly where your money goes, there will always be an element of trust you’re putting into wherever you’re donating your money. So I don’t blame anyone at all for not wanting to rely on that unknown factor and having to trust random people or organizations.
¯\
(ツ)/¯
