'I can relate to the poster who said the drive is not to be as poor again, not the love of your job/career'
This was my dad's motivation. I remember his mother had a framed cross-stitch in her kitchen that read: 'Thank God for dirty dishes. They have a tale to tell. While others are going hungry. We all are eating well.'
Growing up a peasant in Mexico, she had known periods of starvation, and, as an 18-year-old widow, had walked to America after her village (including her husband, daughter and much of her family) was wiped out by Spanish Flu. It took her 5 months.
She had this mechanical way of eating, like one who'd known hunger. And as a result was given to feeding the hungry whenever possible, especially children.
My dad would say, 'She fed children whose mothers worked at night, IYKWIM.'
AS a result, he and his siblings were rarely bullied. He said those hard boys would stick up for them.
Many sadly ended up in prison or dead. But at her funeral, droves turned up, who'd remembered how she fed them.