Do not help anyone just for formality.
There is a ghat of the Narmada river near my house, where I went yesterday because it was Pradosh yesterday. There, I noticed one thing this time that many people were donating to the poor sitting over there, especially food items. But what was strange that all the people were being given their food at one place, one behind the other, they were giving only 8, 10 poor people who were sitting in front or near the ghat.While another group of poor people was sitting on the ghat itself, which was a short distance away, but people were not going to them due to laziness or perhaps ignorance, when I reached there with my brother, then we understood they were quite older. The elderly were about 75 years of age and had nothing to eat. But due to their age and weak body, those elders were not able to reach the place where food was being distributed. I did not take anything to eat from home, so then I bought some food items from a nearby shop and gave them to them, they just started to eat it and then I feel inner happiness when those poor old people start having those times.
Some people go to such places with the intention of earning virtue by donating, but maybe after that, our focus remains only on distributing food. Whereas our focus should first be to first meet the needs of those who need it more. If some poor people have already been given enough food to eat, then we should find another hungry poor. Should not help Just for the sake of formality or show off.