We often take the things we have for granted without realizing it. When our heater is broken, we get upset that we have to wear a jacket around the house. When our water filter needs to be repaired, we complain about having to drink from the tap. To us, these things may seem like the end of the world but to numerous people these are seen as minor issues.
In February of 2015, a storm caused a one hundred year old oak tree to fall onto my house. Luckily, my family was out of town when this occurred so no one was injured but unfortunately it did destroy a large portion of my home. We were not able to live there until it was repaired which took many months. When I was informed about this incident a million things were running through my head. I thought to myself “where are we going to stay?” “how will this affect us financially?” and it gave me a taste of reality.
More than 500,000 people are homeless in the U.S and they are feeling a similar way I was two years ago, except they live in constant fear of not knowing where they are going to stay each night. My family was fortunate enough to have relatives in close range that offered to house us and we had enough money to pay for the repairs but the sad truth is that many people are not as fortunate as we were. We don’t realize the amount of people that are left without a home, job, or family, and there’s not much they can do about it.
This is where we come in. With your help we can make a difference. We can leave our own minor misfortunes behind and aid those who have more substantial problems. We all have a dream, the only difference is for some of us it is easier to pursue. This is our chance to make an impact on someone’s life. This is our chance to make someone’s dreams come true.
Ella Cifaldi
Sophomore Class Vice President