People accepting help first (6)
I believe the answer is:
maiden
'first' is the definition.
(as in a maiden voyage)
'people accepting help' is the wordplay.
'people' becomes 'men' (men can refer to humanity as a whole).
'accepting' indicates putting letters inside.
'help' becomes 'aid' (synonyms).
'men' placed around 'aid' is 'MAIDEN'.
(Other definitions for maiden that I've seen before include "Girl; kind of over" , "No-score over" , "horse that's never won" , "Six dot balls" , "No runs for the unmarried lady's over" .)