I will never forget the day I went to volunteer at my church's event to assist those in need. When I walked into the fellowship hall, I saw rows upon rows of boxes overflowing with clothing, shoes, toys, and bagged food. In the back of the hall, the aroma of freshly prepared rice and stew wafted through the air along with the fragrance of clean laundry from the clothes we had folded. Volunteers (my friends and I) were running around, excitedly chatting among themselves, while families were beginning to line up outside the entrance of the church. Softly playing gospel music filled the air, while the sun shone through the stained glass windows casting a beautiful hue of light on the floor in shades of gold and blue.
I will always recall the first experience that stuck with me while serving the families in need at my church. A woman took the plate of rice and stew I handed to her. She held it with two hands and her fingers were almost not making contact with the edge of the plate because she was worried it would fall off. It was obvious she was trying not to cry when she said "Thank you" softly. To this day, I can still see the look of gratitude in her eyes. It was such a concrete detail; it allowed the reader to "experience the world of the story as if they were there" (LaPlante 109), which is exactly what I wanted to portray. It was not some vague concept, it was a human experience.
Next, I walked over to the toy table with a young girl, she looked at each shelf carefully before selecting a brown teddy bear that was only missing one ear. After I suggested that she pick another toy, she hugged that imperfect teddy bear so tightly that her arms were shaking. It's incredible to think that something so small - a teddy bear - could be considered a treasure to someone else.
Throughout the rest of the day, I continued to fold warm clothes straight from the dryer, sort shoes, and watched a mother press their thumb into the bottom of the shoe to test for quality for their child. The room was full of laughter, soft conversation, and "thank you's" that made the fellowship hall warm. At that point I realized that the event was more than charity, it restored dignity, hope, and a sense of belonging to the families.
My desire to give back to those in need is directly related to my upbringing by my parents. My parents have always instilled in me that generosity does not have to come from wealth, but from the heart. They gave their time, food, and prayers to other families and individuals. Helping the families at the event felt like a way for me to carry on their legacy of providing service to others quietly and humbly.
In order to better understand the significance of this experience, I thought about asking myself three research questions: How common are church-based community support events? Why do families rely on them so heavily? What larger social or economic factors cause families to need these types of events? When I began to search for answers to these questions, I found that community support events hosted by churches are part of a large-scale network of support. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 44 million people in America were living in food-insecure households in 2022, meaning they did not know where their next meal would come from (U.S. Department of Agriculture). This helped me to understand why the lines outside my church were wrapping around the building - families needed help to survive, not just kindness.
According to the Pew Research Center, churches and community groups provide "essential safety nets" for families when government assistance is lacking (Pew Research Center). I believe this shows that helping families that day was not a simple act of volunteering, it was a part of a much larger network of community support throughout the United States.
Additionally, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, "food insecurity has risen significantly among households with children" (U.S. Department of Agriculture). I believe this helps explain why the little girl hugging the teddy bear with one ear was able to find joy in that teddy bear. Her love for that teddy bear represented the larger challenges that many families with children face daily.
Overall, my experience relates to a larger issue in American society: poverty in America. The expressions of emotion I witnessed - relief, gratitude, exhaustion - represent what millions of families feel everyday. The event at my church was a small representation of the larger picture of how communities come together to provide services to families that are unable to receive services due to gaps in social programs. At the close of the event, we sang hymns and prayed. While standing in the fellowship hall, Acts 20:35 came to mind: "it is more blessed to give than to receive." For the first time, I truly understood the meaning of this verse. Families left the event with food and clothing, I left with a renewed spirit of compassion and purpose.
Through writing, researching and reliving this moment, I discovered that giving affects both parties involved, the giver and the receiver. Small gestures of kindness can restore hope. I am left wondering now: how different would the world be if more people practiced the ability of providing small acts of genuine compassion?
Work Cited
LaPlante, Alice. The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Creative Writing. W.W. Norton & Co., 2007.
Pew Research Center. “The American Public’s View of Community Support Networks.” Pew Research Center, 2023, www.pewresearch.org.
United States Department of Agriculture. “Household Food Insecurity in the United States in 2022.” USDA Economic Research Service, 2023, www.ers.usda.gov.
This piece was inspired by a real moment in my life that changed how I understood generosity and purpose. While growing up with parents who were financially challenged most of the time, I knew exactly what it meant to receive help and kindness. Both my parents showed me that although we had little, there was always some form of giving we could provide – whether it was our time, energy, or simply a listening ear. When I volunteered at my church, it provided me the opportunity to take these lessons and apply them. For me, volunteering at my church was so much more than attending a community event. I realized first-hand the transformative effects of giving — not only to the recipient, but to the giver as well. The experiences and lessons I grew-up with greatly influenced the subject matter of my piece, as well as the emotional tone I sought to project.
In terms of biography, both faith and family have been at the core of my values. Faith was a major component of my upbringing through the church — which is where I learned about compassion, service, and humility. Therefore, I chose to write this piece in a church fellowship hall. I wanted the reader to be able to connect with the feelings of warmth and community that exist within places of service. All of the sensory details (the smell of rice and stew, the sounds of laughter, the sight of the folded clothes) I included were all taken from my memories of the event. By including such vivid descriptions, I was able to relive that moment and allow readers to feel the same feelings of connection and gratitude I did that day.
Additionally, socially speaking, I am drawing upon the things I see in the world today — and that many people disregard the needs of others. By writing this piece, I wanted to show that small acts of kindness truly do make a difference. What I took away from the event I wrote about is that service is more than just charitable work — it's about restoring a person's dignity. I wanted to show that when you give someone food, clothing or a toy — you're doing more than providing a basic need — you're acknowledging their humanity. In today's society — where the pursuit of individual success is becoming more prominent over the importance of caring for the community — I wanted this story to inspire readers to be more empathetic and aware of those around them.
I viewed this piece artistically, and I attempted to blend visual elements with emotional components in order to produce a genuine and moving story. I employed descriptive language to bring the setting to life and transport the reader into the scene. Additionally, I carefully considered the tone of the piece — creating a balance between warmth and reflection — in hopes of inspiring the reader to find hope and spiritual fulfillment. The structure of the piece begins with the actions taking place and transitions to realization — much like my own transition that day. This was deliberate; I wanted the reader to experience the progression from physical service to emotional epiphany.
Ultimately, this piece is both a testament and tribute to the potential of giving, the lessons of faith, and the beauty of community. By writing this piece, I gained insight into how that one day has impacted my overall outlook on life and purpose. I was also reminded that giving to others isn't something you do — it's something that evolves into who you are. I hope readers will gain insight into the true significance of the story through this "behind-the-scenes" reflection and how real-life events can impact both your writing and characters.
Twice Niyihambona is a student at Houston City College majoring in Hospitality Management