Being a "newbie" I hope you guys don't mind me putting my 2 cents in.
I agree with not helping newbie's because you haven't gotten to know them as of yet. But even the people that are on here all of the time can be dishonest also. And who is going to take on the responsibility of receiving, depositing, and withdrawling the money? That is a huge responsibility!
My suggestion would be define a "newbie". How long to you have to be a member or how many posts do you have to have. If you say 50 posts or more, than someone can quickly go to the gallery and post 50 comments and there you go, 50 posts. Just an example.
If I were organizing this I would say to receive money you have to be 1. A donater of $50.00 or more. 2. A member for at least 6 months. 3. Started and participated in at least 25 different discussions. Then the members all vote on who gets the money by doing the research of the requesting member.
One surgery can cost thousands. So you may end of helping only one person.
Just my thoughts. I hope you guys don't mind.