Call for Help

Attending to requests for assistance -- financial or otherwise -- is one of our functions at the office. Serving a congressional district has been an eye-opener for me because I've come to realize how lucky I am in many ways.

Not a week passes that we do not attend to relatives of patients suffering from a gamut of medical problems that require medication, hospitalization, surgery, chemotherapy, dialysis and what have you. We don't actually give out cash, because the office would be bankrupt if this were the case, but referral letters to agencies that provides assistance of this nature. My heart especially goes out to kids who are very sick, and whose parents are all but in tears begging for help.

I remember last December when a desperate man came into the office late in the afternoon, short of breath because he was trying to catch our next-door neighbors. Unfortunately for him, they left earlier. I can't recall if the patient was his wife or father, who really needed money for treatment and whose health was failing. He was struggling to hold back tears as he related how he had been everywhere trying to raise the funds needed for this crisis.

Dealing with this day in and day out, we have to steel ourselves so we don't break down or give in to all the drama every time. But there are just instances when their plight tugs at the heartstrings and you go one step further.

I didn't have it in my heart to turn away our late visitor without extending monetary assistance. His gratitude was just as touching so I knew I had done right at that moment. A few months later, he came by again and I was afraid he would be asking for help a second time. He didn't. Instead, he dropped by purposely to seek me out, extend his gratitude once more and relay the news that the patient eventually passed away in spite his efforts.

Sometimes, what we do to help others may not necessarily save them. But the thought that you shared whatever you can, and this is appreciated by those who needed help, is comforting enough.

There are many more cases of people seeking help and I sincerely wish I can do something to help ease their burdens. It may not necessarily be extending monetary assistance, but a giving of my talent and time to find ways to channel help to them. And I hope, too, that someone out there who may happen to read about these people will find it in their hearts to share.