 
Time for the Needy
David Suarez cared. He
cared about people who did not have his opportunities,
people who did not have his education, people who had to
struggle. "He reached out to people in a very warm and
genuine way," said Ted Suarez, his father. "Everyone
remembered his smile. From a little boy, he had a smile
that was very endearing."
Mr. Suarez, 24, was a
systems consultant who worked for Deloitte Consulting.
He reported each day to the office of his client, Marsh
& McLennan, in the World Trade Center. He was in the
process of sending out applications to colleges, because
next fall he wanted to embark on an M.B.A. before
returning to Deloitte. His hope was to go to
Harvard.
But he always made time for the needy.
Social concern was a family tradition. He volunteered
for the nonprofit group New York Cares. He worked in
soup kitchens and tutored high school students for their
college entrance exams.
He always gave the
disadvantaged the benefit of the doubt. Friends told a
story about how they found him once talking to some
beggars outside a bar. Mr. Suarez asked one of the
beggars, who was in a wheelchair, "What would it take to
make you happy?"
The man said, "Give me
$20."
Mr. Suarez gave him $20.
The beggar
got up, folded up his wheelchair and walked
off.
Mr. Suarez was not angry. The episode did
not make him jaded. He shrugged it off. By his thinking,
he would rather lose $20 here and there to an impostor
than risk spurning someone who really needed his help.
He kept on giving.
Profile published
in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 26, 2001.
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