It was frigid on the downtown streets of Cincinnati, in a schoolhouse, not far from the city, a team of people started putting items into bags, like a production line. plastic ziplocks are picked up from a bin, a group of kids take them to a different station and put deodorant in each one, then to the next station, a toothbrush, then toothpaste, dental floss, socks, gloves and a hat, tissues, and some fruit. When the bags are completed, they are added to a box full of others, there is a pile of them, stacking up quickly. Some time later, each person takes an equal amount of bags from the box and drives downtown, like a fleet of airships flying to battle, the cars drive down the highway.

A black car approaches a dirty curbside, the driver hands a bag to a bearded man walking down the street. He had a hoodie on, and a cardboard sign that read ‘Homeless, anything helps’, his thin jeans had mud stains on them and were tearing at his knees, his gloves were a bit too small, and there was a noticeable smile shining through his beard. We caught him just as he was about to cross the road; “Thank you sir, you just gave me my lunch!” He said in a cheery voice, he then walked onto the crosswalk. Whistling a happy tune with a little skip in his step, he looked like a cartoon character from a cell animation. His situation looked grim, the streets of Cincinnati were his home, yet he was so happy to be there with the snow slowly gliding down from the sky.

    When we got home, I thought of the man we met that afternoon, about all the other men and women that were living on the streets. I didn’t think I could do anything to change their situation, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted help, and when there’s a will, there's a way. There was a small plastic cup I put on a shelf for later, on the cup was a label; ‘Charity’, inside the clear cup were some pennies, nickels and dimes, even a dollar or two. I had just received money for some chores I completed and was sitting on the floor doing math, “10%, 85% 5%,” I dropped some coins into the charity cup. Every time I got paid I added 5% to charity, while it might not have been much, it added up quickly with all the work I did. I donated clothes and purchased items from non-profit organizations, and of course, donated to charity.