I don't know if this sort of reasoning is local, but around here, social programs are dismissed as "putting a new coat of paint on a condemned building" or "patching up the holes on a sinking ship." Don't they know? You can't give someone a tract or a watchtower and expect them to get up and run down to the kingdom hall if they have nothing to eat or nothing to wear.
I hated having to work with the watchtower on "how does God view the poor?", when it was clear that we did nothing for poor people in the first place. And if anyone said, "Well, I'm involved in a charitable work," how could we build on that? I really couldn't say, "Well, that's nice, but that's only a temp fix" or "that doesn't provide for their spiritual well-being." I really couldn't bring myself to say that to the householder. I wanted to say, "Wow, you're a lot more helpful than I am. Good day."
Also, I really hope colleges wise up and deny witness kids who use field service as "community outreach." What have you really done? You've upset more people than you've reached. You haven't put up a coat of paint on a house. You haven't picked up any trash. You haven't coached a kids' football game. In short, you've given nothing. You provide conditional help, the condition being time-consuming association with the congregation. Hell, that doesn't even guarantee that you'll be helped. Hopefully someone in the congregation will take pity on you and help you out, provided you're in Good Standing TM .