Hungry To Help by Madison

Hungry To Help by Madison - May 2018 Scholarship Essay

When I was 14, my family decided to feed the homeless for Christmas. This was the first time we had done this and we didn't know what to expect. Instead of going to a homeless shelter and helping pass out food, we wanted to make our own goody bags. We included gloves, a blanket, a sandwich, chips, cookies, a hat, and we brought some toys for the little kids since it was Christmas. I had grown up very fortunately so this experience was brand new to me, we went downtown and brought brown bags for them. We all brought clothes we didn't need any more and anything we could give.
A lot of people's first reaction to homeless people may be fear, but not mine. I was curious. How did they get here? How else could I help them? What were their stories? The looks on their faces when we handed them something so simple as food and some clothes brought me not only happiness, but a huge realization. These people didn't care for the materialistic things in life or the luxurious things, they were fine with five dollar hats and any food they could get.
My whole family left this day feeling a weirdly bittersweet. We loved helping these people but we knew they had a harder life than we may ever know. Cold nights or blistering hot days, it couldn't be easy. We decided to make this a tradition, every year now we raise money from family and friends and we take our money that would normally be put to Christmas and we try to bring all the love and joy we can. Toys for the kids, food for the family, jackets, hats, gloves, a welcoming smile and anything else we can. We now plan to start doing this as much as we can.
This experience not only helped me become more appreciative and grateful of the life I was blessed with, but also helped me gain a better sense of empathy and compassion. I don't believe I would be as caring as I am now if I hadn't had this eye-opening opportunity.