A Helping Heart for Our Own

A Helping Heart for Our Own

A. Ucheena Woodfolk

Obnoxious laughter fell from our glossy lips as  my sister and I exited the Chili’s restaurant with our bellies full and spirits high. Bags swung heavily in our hands with the leftover turkey sandwiches and cajun pasta. We did not see her when we first exited but my ears picked up her soft question.

“Do you have any extra food I could have?”She asked.. And without question I handed all the leftovers that I had and turned to my sister, beckoning her to give her food as well, knowing that my sister never ate her leftovers anyways.

Driving home, I could not forget the way her eyes welled with tears and she admitted that she had been asking people for a while if they had any food to spare. And just like that, I was again reminded that my peers and me are often in a place where we can lend a hand to another person.

Chicago alone, in 2017, contributed to 52.4% of the homeless population within Illinois.

Whether you have experienced it first hand or not, it is important to have the compassion to help those less fortunate that us in whatever capacity you can. Makenzie Fondren, 19’, “feels like a lot of us have the agency to do something good. If you know what is going on, you can take action, you can find a way to help and spread the need to assists other people in far worse situations.”

There are several ways people  can help. Those interested can help by volunteering with the Greater Chicago Food Depository in order to help those without great access to food. People can donate that shirt you never wear, those jeans that you do not fit anymore at several places like Pacific Garden Mission,” Chicago’s oldest and largest homeless shelter,” as Ana Beatriz Cholo of the Chicago Tribune describes it, or the Salvation Army. As Asha Uwimana Woodfolk, a Whitney Young Alumni states, “Helping others is an important part of the human experience,” and it is of great import to reach out a hand to assist those that need it the most.