At the age of sixteen, I went on my first volunteer program in West Virginia to repair or build homes for poor families. When we arrived, we discovered that the family we were going to help was living in a trailer that was in poor condition, no bigger than two parking spaces. A group of people had been working on it for two weeks, but every time they finished one problem, another appeared. We soon decided that the only way was to build a new house. It was something unusual because normally our goal was to repair old homes. The family was pleased with their new house that was 20 by 30 feet with three bedrooms, a bath and a kitchen. On Tuesday of that week, I asked the family's three boys, Josh, Eric and Ryan, "What do you want for your new room?" Kids in the families we had helped usually wanted toys or posters, so we were surprised when Josh, the oldest boy said, "We just want beds." The boys had never slept in a bed. That night we had a meeting and decided that beds would be the perfect gift. On Thursday night, a few adults in our group drove to the nearest city and bought beds and new bedding. On Friday when we saw the truck coming, we told the family about the surprise. They were very excited. That afternoon, while we were setting up the beds, Eric ran into the house to watch us with wide eyes. As Maggie, a member of our group, put one of the pillows on the bed, Eric asked, "What is that?" "A pillow," she replied. "What do you do with it?" Eric went on asking. "When you go to sleep, you put your head on it," Maggie answered softly. Tears came to our eyes as she handed Eric the pillow. "Oh . . . that's soft," he said, holding it tightly. Now, when my sister or I start to ask for something that seems very urgent , my dad always asks, "Do you have a pillow?" We know exactly what he means.