Matanos L'evyonim to a non-Jew

Question

I live in an area where b"H it is difficult to find Jewish poor. Can matanos l'evyonim be given to non-Jews, or must at least 2 of the poor people be Jewish?

Answer 1

In a town where it is not the practice to donate to non-Jews, it is forbidden to give to a non-Jew, and whoever does so is stealing from Jewish beggars, and he certainly doesn't fulfill his obligation with this. However, in a town where it is the practice, he still gives money to non-Jews (because of darkei shalom, cf. Gittin 61a), although he can't fulfill his obligation with that giving. (Mishnah Brurah 694:10-11)

There are lots of tzedakah funds who collect for poor people that collect from donors outside the country. You might want to find one of those. Yad Eliezer is one I found in a quick web search.