To a first grader; 44,184 is a large number, merely unfathomable, which is a large word for a first grader too. Who would have thought I would make it to 44,184?

I walk to the TV and sit down, the brick box blaring SpongeBob. I glance at the screen again, but this time there is no SpongeBob. A video begins, with sad music and underprivileged topics.

I see a boy. Not an ordinary boy. 

A boy with ribs emerging from his chest. 

A boy with arms the size of twigs.

A boy with bones peaking through his legs.

I cry in fear. Not in fear of the boy, but in fear of his future to come. 

“How can I help that boy, Momma?” I whimper, running into her arms.

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world,” she replies.

At that moment, it felt as though the boy came through that screen and touched me. He told me what I must do to change this from ever happening again and I needed to change now. 

Standing in the sub-zero temperatures collecting food, being told off by random strangers, and countless hours for the next 12 years were all worth it. One commercial would spark the number 44,184. One starving boy from Africa being filmed for a commercial would unknowingly make the number 44,184. 

44,184 food items have been donated to the Hartland Food Pantry, and I wish I could one day meet the starving boy in the commercial, he influenced who I am today. Each and every year I reflect on how different my life would have been if I didn’t make the decision in 1st grade to start my own food drive. 

Now I’m 18 but 44,184 to my community.