The spirit of giving: WHS students hit the streets with $10

“General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there.” – Love Actually

In the spirit of the holidays, Hi’s Eye decided to give $10 to five WHS students. The students had the weekend to find a creative way to give the money to someone else, either as a spur-of-the-moment decision, or as a planned and creative project. Though each student took a different path, they all managed to make an impact on someone, whether they be a complete stranger, a person in need or a lucky passerby.
It may not sound like a lot of money, but with a little thought and compassion, the ways in which we can give to others are endless.
Morgan Eng, Junior
When she received her $10, Eng said she already knew what she was going to do for this project. After arriving at Madison Square Park in Manhattan, Eng took out the $10 bouquet of yellow roses she had just bought, with homemade tags tied neatly to each rose’s stem, and began offering them to passersby.
The handwritten tags held short, positive messages, written in Eng’s own calligraphy. But her gesture wasn’t initially received as warmly as she’d hoped. “At first I felt broken-up over it and almost gave up because no one would take the roses,” Eng said.
Despite the originally tough NYC crowd, she persevered, saying, “After I gave my first rose more people were open to accepting it, which got me really excited.”
As more people began accepting their roses, Eng was overcome with happiness. “It was really great to see someone smile and tell you that you just made their day,” she said.
Peter Morariu, Senior
After getting off the bus in Manhattan, Morariu stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts and ordered a sandwich, granola bar, banana and water bottle, ringing in at roughly $10.
Morariu walked around the city looking for someone in need of their next meal, and stumbled upon a homeless couple seeking refuge under an elevated train station. His eyes were drawn to their sign that read: Homeless and pregnant with twins.
“Before they saw me they seemed pretty gloomy and tired, and the wife was falling asleep,” said Morariu. “After they saw me they got up and I handed them the bag and told them what was inside.”
He noted how grateful they were for his act of kindness, and before departing he wished them a happy and safe holiday season.
Helen Chinn, Sophomore
Sophomore Helen Chinn is well-known around the school for her bubbly and positive personality. According to Chinn, much of her success as a happy high school student is owed to her former aide, Ms. Debbie DeNicola, from Tamaques Elementary School.
So when Chinn heard the news that her beloved aide’s daughter, Brittany, has cancer, she knew she wanted to help.
“I decided to donate $5 on Brittany’s GoFundMe page,” said Chinn. “With the rest of the money, I bought some goodies to try to make her feel a little better.”
Although she and DeNicola no longer see each other on a daily basis, Chinn believes that it is important to give back to the people who have been a part of her life.
“She is kind, she is helpful and she did so much for me,” Chinn said. “I just love her and I wanted to do something to help her back.”
Ethan Hom, Junior 
For Hom, the decision to give away the $10 came spontaneously. “Originally, I was planning on going into New York City or Philadelphia to give the money away to someone in need,” said Hom. However, the project didn’t go as initially planned.
Hom was at Five Below doing some holiday shopping, and when he got to the register he saw the woman in front of him scrambling for money to pay for her items. “I just pulled out the $10 and gave it to her,” he said. “It was easy to give the money away once I saw someone who needed it.”Sammy Salz, Freshman 
After a day of contemplating how she should give away her $10, freshman Sammy Salz decided to do a local act of kindness.
“I ended up going to the Westfield Library and found an older couple who were taking out a book for their six-year-old grandson,” said Salz. “I made a bookmark and asked them if I could sneak it inside the book with the $10 as a surprise.”
According to Salz, the grandmother seemed very surprised and moved by her gesture, noting that she was a teacher and would use the money to buy more books for her grandson.
As she reflected on her project, Salz mentioned a feeling that so many of us have felt, and one that we could all do well to experience this holiday season: “It felt really good to do something for someone locally and see how happy it made them.”