As told by Steve Zabilski, St. Vincent de Paul Executive Director
My earliest recollections of poverty go back to my childhood in the 1960s and seeing it reported overseas on television.
It was troubling to try and understand as a child. How could this be when so many people – me included – had everything they needed, yet others had next to nothing?
To this day, I don’t fully understand it and these early memories have never quite left me. As I grow older, while there maybe isn’t the depth of poverty from my TV news recollections in our own neighborhoods, there are still too many people who do not have enough resources (food, jobs, healthcare, counseling) to support themselves.
As I’m thinking back, I’m also reminded of my Mary & Jesus plaque. It’s hanging on the wall here in my office.
I earned that plaque in grade school by selling books of stickers to support the homeless. I sold 10 books, 100 stickers in each.
When the day came for the top “salespeople” in our class to receive their plaques, I was surprised that not many kids had tried hard enough to earn them.
Please allow a bit of modesty here. I didn’t sell the most stamps in my class, and I’m not attempting to convey that I think I was a better person in spirit than my classmates. The point I want to make is that poverty had made itself aware to me by this time in my life. I’m sure this occurs at different times for different people. As a third grader, as poverty was attacking my innocence, I simply wanted to help these poor people who I had never met. I wanted to stop school right there so every kid could go out and sell those stamps.
I know now that these early experiences signaled what has become my mission as executive director for St. Vincent de Paul, Phoenix.
I bet you have a story that drives your purpose too. Perhaps it is an experience that moved you to be charitable, occurring at any age, which just might encourage others to take action. It’s okay if your own story puts you in the spotlight for a moment. I was a bit concerned about this as I started writing this post, yet I think the affect my personal experience had on me overshadows what I first thought to be tooting my own horn.
What I really want to know is what motivates you to help others? I’d enjoy hearing from you. Please share!
