Reply to Would you give $500 or $1000 to a Facebook acquaintance you know is struggling?

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[quote=Anonymous]I am a frequent reader and rare poster to Facebook. I grew up in a smaller city and went to school with many of the same kids from 1-12 grades, many of whom are on FB.  I'm FB friends with a girl who was a close friend in elementary school and an acquaintance in high school.  I haven't spoken to her in real life in 20 years.  I know you can't judge anyone by their FB postings, but I enjoy reading her updates because she's such a free spirit, has interesting thoughts, posts interesting art, music and articles, has a good relationship with her kids, and she doesn't seem to whitewash her life just for the sake of social media.  She got pregnant in HS, so her oldest son is in college now. She struggled for years as a single mom, put herself through college, seems to have had another failed relationship and now has 3 kids (1 college, 2 middle school), who appear to be creative, kooky kids who are close to their mom.  2 of them are Eagle Scouts and the oldest is working his way through a small regional college.

Anyway...she just bought a car from a less-than-reputable dealer, which promptly broke down and needs a new engine. Our city doesn't have good public transportation, so a car is vital to keeping a job. She's asked on FB for leads for odd jobs that she can pick up in addition to her current FT job so she can afford the car repairs.

I don't know why, but I have an urge to help her.  She seems like a nice person and a great mom who has done the best with the cards she's been dealt, and she's kept a good attitude throughout.  Of course, I have no way to know if this is the whole story since I see her life only through the FB lens.

Is it incredibly weird to offer her a $500 or $1,000 loan?  I know I would have to expect to not be repaid.  Should she be able to easily get a loan from a bank or a money lender or something similar so she doesn't really need a cash loan, but is really just looking for extra work?  (Fully acknowledging my privilege here - I genuinely don't understand how easy or difficult it is to get money from a place like that).  If you needed cash pretty desperately, how would you feel about a relative stranger reaching out to offer some?

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