America's poor are its most generous donors
The poor share a greater percentage of their income with others than the rich do. Maybe that's because they tend to be more religious and empathetic, and are more likely to rub shoulders with others in need.
When Jody Richards saw a homeless man begging outside a downtown McDonald's recently, he bought the man a cheeseburger. There's nothing unusual about that, except that Richards is homeless, too, and the 99-cent cheeseburger was an outsize chunk of the $9.50 he'd earned that day panhandling.
The generosity of poor people isn't so much rare as rarely noticed, however.
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The intent is to romanticize the poor and demonize the rich. It just isn't so. I've given large sums to help people that were not deductible. It doesn't show in tax statistics. There are all kinds in all income classes but on average the upper crust is more charitable and more morally upright.