STREETSIDE STORY OF THE MONTH

Helping People See What They Could Not
Hannah Wong

OK, so maybe a hard choice for me is choosing between strawberry and vanilla ice cream, or between getting pink shoes or blue shoes. However, in the third grade, it hit me. I was lucky, very lucky.

I have low vision, and I can't see very well, but I have had a lot of help from my parents, my sister and the Blind Babies Foundation. The Blind Babies Foundation, or BBF, is an organization that helps kids who are blind or cannot see well. They helped me when I was little by showing me toys that were easy for me to see.

Since I was so fortunate, I wanted to give back to my community. I decided my friends and I would hold a jewelry sale at my school, Claire Lilienthal. I consulted with my parents and the principal (which was not easy for a bunch of third graders). We got their OK.

Once we got their OK, my family and I bought a lot of beads. We made jewelry for five months until the day of the sale arrived. On May 1, my friend Sammi and I left class early to set up in front of the Claire Lilienthal lunchroom.

The lunchroom was empty. I could smell the cafeteria food being prepared. I heard the rustling of beads as I set up the display. I touched my favorite piece of jewelry that I made, as I got ready to sell it. I tasted the salami sandwich my dad had made me so I could build my energy up. I saw the foggy weather outside. I looked at the time. It was 10:55.

It's lunchtime! People are running down the stairs. Sammi, my two other friends and I are trying to balance lunch and jewelry at the same time. Sammi has hair as dark as the night sky. She can be lazy, but when she's working, she gets to work. Her voice is usually groggy, but when she talks, it is refreshing like the morning air. While she was working she took a bite of food, sold a piece of jewelry, food, jewelry, and so on. Sammi likes food and sweets. She was working frantically and sold a lot.

My friends and I are talking frantically to our customers. "I would like this and this and this," one customer told me.

"Uh, OK. It's..." I started to reply, and then someone cut me off.

"How much is this?" she questioned.

"One dollar," I told her, then said to my other customer, "OK, sorry. Your total is $6.00."

"Thanks," she replied, and walked off.

That's how it was for two hours as we sold necklaces and bracelets. When the sale was over, I felt very proud of myself. I knew I helped someone have a better life.

After school, my mom counted the money we raised, and told us we had raised $162. I was so excited I was jumping up and down.

A few years later, we did hear from BBF, and we got a thank you. But I don't know what they did with the money.

After the jewelry sale, I learned something important. You don't have to be big to change the world. You just have to try.


About the Author
Hannah Wong was born and lives in San Francisco. She loves to dance jazz, tap and hip-hop. She has been dancing for nine years. She also enjoys making people laugh. Hannah likes to design clothes, especially evening gowns. She has Albinism, which means she has little color in her hair, skin and eyes. She also cannot see very well and is sensitive to light. Hannah dreams of becoming the first single albino woman president of the United States of America.