I thought about doing that recently, and perhaps I should. I haven't seen a merit giveaway thread in a long, long time, and the last one was by actmyname if I'm not mistaken. The only issue I have is that the members who post in them don't read the requirements, don't understand that I wouldn't just be giving merit away for shitposts, and that if I created such a thread it would just die off like the other ones have. I suppose I could keep bumping it, but I think I've made the offer enough times that anyone who thinks their posts would hold up to my standards would have PMed me by now.
Unfortunately this is the case. Many people, when submitting applications, only look at the title of the topic and .... there is nothing else. When creating such a topic, I would strongly recommend making a self-moderated topic, otherwise the thread can quickly drown in the flow of off-top and posts that do not correspond to the rules of your distribution. But, despite all the difficulties in maintaining such a topic, it still brings benefits to the community.