When I was younger, I was always taught that everyone was created equal. Yet as I got older, the saying was slowly fading away. As humans, we categorize people, and separate them from “the good” and “the bad”. I must admit that I am guilty of this action even though I try not too. The best place I know to practice not being so judgmental is where worship occurs and where a higher power says we are all equal.

I walked slowly to the opened gate while listening to the engine of my parent’s car zoom away. I hadn’t helped at my church ever since I started my independent study for dance, and I was nervous to return. The nun who had been my religious education teacher since I was a toddler was standing at the gate which split the church and school. When she saw me, a smile broke across her face, and she guided me to the booth I was going to be at for the remainder of my Sunday afternoon. There I would be raffling off gift baskets, and the money would go to different areas in need the church was helping.

This wasn’t the first time that I was working at this booth, so I was use to the silence of the church court yard. The festival where this fundraiser was occurring had not yet begun because the eleven o’clock service was still in session. I walked around looking at the baskets the students of St. Simon and Jude had made. Suddenly I felt someone approach. A man that I always saw at church asked me how many tickets he could buy and put in the raffle. I told him what the volunteers had me rehearse that morning. “As many as you would like, just don’t forget your name and phone number.” I said with a smile. He thanked me then walked away.

Later on more people came, and I ran my lines to each of them, as if I was a recording, and waited to hand them the tickets. Suddenly the man from that morning came and called me over. I tried to hide the lost sleep of the night from creeping onto my face, so I jolted up from my seat with a huge smile. “May I help you?” I sang even though my head cried out “Go home, why are you here?” I was expecting the usual answer, but I was surprised at the following event. The man pulled out 50 tickets and asked me to help him to place them in each box. Even though this was a small donation to some, I found this heart felt. Many people were raffling just for the baskets, but this man was raffling for the cause. He didn’t know those whom the money would go to, but he’d gave anyway.
Many individuals do not donate because they think that the less fortunate should work to do better, and not expect a handout. But some people do need the help. I did not help in a shelter or had seen those who I was helping, so I don’t have a story that would persuade someone to help the needy, donate to the cause, or that they could save the world. But it’s possible. A total stranger with their kindness can motivate another to help. Giving a dollar to a homeless individual on the street, packing clothes at a shelter, or putting a raffle ticket in a box for a good cause, it all helps someone, some where, have less of a worry in life.