I do not know whether Anglican and other churches were able to provide charity such as soup kitchens or emergency food distributions, but some reasons given for

I do not know whether Anglican and other churches were able to provide charity such as soup kitchens or emergency food distributions, but some reasons given for the New Deal in the US was that many people were unwilling to accept charity from churches, especially with rising sectarianism, and for that same reason, charity/outreach operations had perhaps become fragmented, and literally slicing up the pie smaller and smaller, in terms of funding, volunteers, and coverage, for a multiplicity of humanitarian non-profits. Nowadays the State Governments simply fund, assist, and promote those non-profits, and mental health care, etc., so American taxpayers are not merely paying "church tax" but synagogue/church/mosque/temple/ashram taxes, to support the plurality of faith-based charities who serve the poor and marginalized. And that's why the government itself can be reduced in size and scope as public-private-religious partnerships take up the mantle.