But the real opportunity for generosity is more likely inside the workplace.

Do you know who goes to the food banks that so many support? It is not just the homeless and unemployed. It is, many times, the people we all work with: The janitors and support staff who help offices run smoothly and keep them clean. The Uber drivers and people who work at the checkout counter and deliver groceries. The nannies and caregivers.

According to Feeding America, 43 percent of people who visit a food bank have at least one family member who is working full time but still doesn’t earn enough to cover bills. A researcher for the Urban Institute estimated that a quarter of adults in homeless shelters work.

If business leaders genuinely care about eradicating poverty, paying people a living wage matters.

In New York City, the poverty threshold for a family of four is $32,402. Do the math. If only one member of a family is working 35 hours a week, with 10 days of vacation including national holidays, and is paid anything less than $18 an hour — which is higher than the minimum wage in New York and much higher than the national average — then that family more than qualifies for help from a food bank that charity often supports.

So here’s a challenge for chief executives and employees alike: When you go back to work after the holidays, ask your human resources department what the lowest pay is for any employee at the company. And, just as important, what is the lowest pay for any outside contractor that your company uses? What kind of benefits do they get? Do the outside firms your company contracts with provide benefits?