It's a nice thought and we have many goodhearted souls here who have generously stepped up to help hurting folks from the forums in the past.
Maybe the "Pay it Forward " forum could morph into something of the sort. Recipients of donated items could contribute a monetary gift which could be banked in some sort of escrow account.
Some logistics would have to be worked out such as:
1. Who would organize and monitor the forum and act as treasurer(s)?
2. Who would choose who the benefactors would be and the amount distributed?
3. What would be the criteria?
4. Should 2 and 3 above be decided by committee, open vote, secret ballet?
Let's hear other's thoughts on this.