I Believe in Helping Others
Deb Knaus
Personal Statement
I am a new student at LW Tech and I am so happy to be a part of this community. I learn something new every day and am meeting the most amazing people. I am studying Behavioral and Social Sciences. My narrative essay reflects what started my wanting to help people.
I believe in helping others.
I cannot imagine going hungry. When I was a child, we did not have a lot. But I did have the love of my family, a roof over my head, and food on the table. I believed other families had all this too. I was wrong! I had seen those struggling to afford food or not having a place to call home portrayed on TV shows or in Lifetime movie. It always seemed liked that, fiction not something that really happened. A make-believe story not real life. Then in the early evening hours while driving home from work; at 18 years old I, I saw it! A man holding a sign that read,” Will work for food”. He looked exhausted and hungry. On the other hand, he also looked like someone who could live in my neighborhood, just a regular guy. I nearly crashed my car over the thought of someone willing to work for a meal. It was like finding out Santa Claus was not real.
After a frantic fifteen-minute drive, I was back in the comfort of my own home, where I lived with my siblings, mom, and Nana. We had well stocked cabinets and a refrigerator full of food. I quickly began making sandwiches and gathering various cans of fruits and vegetables to put in a bag for the gentleman down the street. I added paper plates, napkins, and utensils to the bag: A simple act of civility. I vividly remember grabbing one of our extra can openers and putting it in the bag. All I could think about was that this hungry person may not have a way to open the cans that I was giving him. As quickly as I got to my house, I turned around with two bags full of food and headed back to the man with the sign.
In the many years since that incident, I have never forgotten that man with the sign. He was the beginning of what has turned out to be a life destined to help others. I continue to volunteer at homeless shelters and cook and donate food to those that are food insecure. In my car I carry emergency bags with water, socks, and snacks to give out to those on living on the streets; additionally, I am working towards a degree in Behavioral and Social Sciences. My hope is to do even more for those in need. At fifty years old I believe strongly that every human has the right to have their basic needs met: Food, water, and shelter. If someone cannot provide these things for themselves it is up to others offer aid. It is up to me to act. It is up to me to help! “If not us, who? If not now, when?”-John F. Kennedy