Every day, millions of people die from starvation. Every day, millions more ignore “feed the hungry” TV commercials.

Even though some people feel compassion when they see commercials like these, most probably end up saying the same thing: “Sure, there are people like this in the world, but this commercial is not realistic.”

Maybe those commercials are staged, but the message that they relay is not. There are many suffering individuals who do not know where their next meal will come from. In fact everyday over 16,000 children die from hunger related illnesses. Even people who are better off than those portrayed on the commercials suffer from hunger every day.

The sad truth is that people know this, but rarely give money to these organizations.  I would have a statistic for that, but when I Google searched “how many people actually give money to charities,” the only responses I got were reasons to not give money to charities.

As young children, many of us learned that poverty-stricken men and women living on the streets solely use their money for booze and drugs. While this may be the case,  what do you plan to spend your two dollars on? Probably a Big Mac or a Shake Weight.  I guarantee the poor person would’ve used it on something better. I was in the city the other day, and I saw a homeless man ask for change. The man he asked turned to him and said, “Get a job you lazy bum,” without sparing him any change. Think about it: He’s homeless, and I’m pretty sure he does not meet the requirements for most fields of work.  He’s wearing his underwear on top of his jeans, which wouldn’t even qualify him for a job at McDonald’s.

It’s not easy to get a job in this economy. I’ve been trying for the past three months and I can’t seem to be employed. I have a house, car and people who can recommend me for jobs. Meanwhile, the homeless man has a box.

So you may be asking yourself, “What is he getting at?” The answer is simple. We need to help each other as a society. If we don’t go out of our way to help each other, we will see society crumble before us. A little act of kindness can go a long way.

Every time I go through a toll, I pay for the person behind me. Why? Because I know how far a small act of kindness can go.

Ryan Lina can be reached for comment a [email protected].