Ways to Contribute to Aid the Homeless

Regarding the article, “Lending a ‘Helping Hand,’ ” (Times, March 18), I applaud the initiative in Beverly Hills to encourage donations to social service agencies that help the homeless. Providing easy ways to donate, such as adding a donation to a restaurant bill, is very creative.

However, making panhandling illegal, or trying in other ways to make the homeless invisible, may be soothing to shoppers but is ill-advised in our diverse and distressed society. We can too easily ignore problems we do not see. Homelessness and poverty are problems we ignore at our collective peril.

PAULA SCHNEIDERMAN

Santa Monica