Helping Others Is Easy?

HELPING OTHERS IS EASY?
By Whitney Hollingshead

Have you ever wanted to help others, but been unsure of how to help? Many of us have good intentions, but end up falling short because we aren’t sure what to do, we don’t think we can make a real difference, or we don’t think we have any time to help.

Hopefully learning about the Utah Valley Home Builder’s Association Sub for Santa program will change your mind. This program helps 30-50 families in Utah County each year.

Johnny McCoy of Knotty Alder Cabinets shared with me an insider’s perspective on how the process works:

The association of about 30 members reviews the stack of nominations submitted from clergy, neighbors, and other individuals each year. A neighbor might send in a nomination like this, “The Smith’s next door have a family member in a wheelchair and they have a wheelchair ramp. The ramp is broken and I see them struggling everyday to get the wheelchair in and out of the house.”

As the nomination is read out loud it is also mentioned that the Smith’s live in Spanish Fork. A contractor says, “I’ll take that.” In a matter of days, the Smith’s have a new wheelchair ramp.

The next nomination is read: “A mother is living alone with her four young daughters. The back patio light is either burned out or broken. The bulb may just need to be changed, either way they say it’s broken.” An electrician in the room asks for the paper. He then goes over to the home and installs a new light. When he is finished, the mother tells him, “My kids were all sleeping in one room because they were scared to death because there were no lights outside.” Upon hearing this, the electrician leaves and returns to install motion detectors as well.

The next paper read tells about a family in Orem that has been without heat for over six months. Apparently someone said they would come check on them in about three weeks. A heating and air conditioning professional says, “I won’t make them wait.” He promises to stop at the house that very day. He reports back and says that it was a $27 part to fix the problem. The man also adds how simple it was to stop by on his way home and quickly fix what turned out to be a simple problem that had been plaguing the poor family for months.

These examples can teach all of us some valuable lessons on helping others:

1. Everyone has skills that can help others.

2. Helping others doesn’t have to take a lot of time.

3. Helping in small ways can lead to big improvements.

Johnny McCoy says that helping others is easy. You just have to get out and do whatever you can to help. He also adds how valuable little acts of kindness become: “Oh, can you imagine if everyone did that? Holy hannah!”

Holy Hannah indeed, imagine how much good could be accomplished if we were all to help others a little each day.

What will you do to help someone today?