The friend everyone relies on may be the least practiced at making their own need sound urgent.

The person everyone leans on is usually out of practice at asking. They have spent years being the one who helps, and the muscle for stating their own need has not been used, so when they finally do it, it comes out too mild to register. Their request sounds optional because they have no experience making it sound otherwise.

If you know someone like this, take their small mentions seriously and ask twice. And if you are that person, understatement is not a virtue here. Say the actual size of what you need, plainly, even though it feels excessive. It will land as roughly accurate to people used to hearing you understate.