Shelter is a primary need— along with drink, air, food, sleep, and sex— at least according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a concept often referred to in psychology. Thankfully, most of us are lucky enough to have a house to call our own, but that’s definitely not the case for people who are homeless.
Being homeless is hard enough as it is, but when you throw in the threat of sickness, violence, and exposure to the elements, it can be absolutely lethal. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, 44% of homeless people in the United States live unsheltered, with approximately 700 dying from hypothermia every single year.
But three teen boys from Poland made international headlines after they were anonymously caught on tape tucking in a sleeping, homeless man with a gift: a warm quilt and comfy pillow.
According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, when winter comes and the temperatures drop, the homeless often abandon the streets and make use of local shelters. Unfortunately, these shelters don’t always have enough beds for the influx of people, and many are still forced to sleep in the cold.
So when a homeless man asked three boys— Szymon, Wojtek, and Marcin— for a blanket, they knew they had to help, reports TVN24.
The boys were captured on security footage published by the city guards. It shows them walking through the streets and carrying a quilt and a pillow. In an interview with TVN24, Szymon revealed that they had met the man earlier when he had asked them for a blanket. They had searched everywhere and were losing hope when they came across an abandoned couch left by someone who had been moving. On it lay the clean quilt and pillow.
The video shows the boys returning with the items, tucking in the homeless man who, Szymon tells TVN24, thanked them and smiled before cuddling into the warm blanket and falling back to sleep.
When the footage was published, the boys were identified and personally rewarded with smartwatches from Kordian Kolbiarz, the mayor of Nysa. TVN24 reports that Kolbiarz told the boys, “That’s a big gesture. I bow to you. The world needs such gestures.”
For their part, the boys have been modest about their good deed, emphasizing that it is the typical human response to when someone is in need.
“If someone asks for help, we should give them a hand.”
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