It’s the kind of joy that all kids deserve – and it came during a visit from a young NBC 6 viewer.
16-year-old Steven Ferriero saw a 10-year-old featured during our weekly Helping Hands series, where the youngster told us about her family’s financial struggles during the coronavirus pandemic. After seeing it, Ferriero showed up in a big way to donate help for the family.
Remember Sabrina Carrivain? She’s able to make a living once again after the single mother was deemed a non-essential worker during the pandemic and went more than two months without a paycheck and having to turn to free food distributions across South Florida to feed her son.
“People I don’t know reached out on Facebook and helped me out,” she said.
Among those who decided to help out was a local businessman who handed over a check for $1,000.
“I still can’t believe it,” Carrivain said.
“I did this from the bottom of my heart, not looking for recognition,” the man said, wishing to remain anonymous.
Local
It was the same story from a group of local businessmen who wanted to help the Bravo family with a $2,000 check and food donations after seeing their story on the series.
“I think this series is good. It gives awareness from the one who has to the one who doesn’t,” one of them said.
When we introduced you to Penny and Freddy Bravo, they were under extreme stress and opened up about their financial struggles. After the story aired, the baseball team that Freddy coaches stepped up with donations for their leader.
“When I saw all the cars coming, it was beautiful,” said Freddy.
“It gave me hope and made me stronger,” Penny added. “It made me feel like I don’t need to be ashamed to ask for help when you need help.”
Talking about financial struggles isn’t easy. For Karen, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, it was a scary thing to do after we featured her family’s struggle for food - and our viewers reacted in a big way to help.
“There’s power in social media,” said Erica Davis, one of the many who helped. “I posted and said I want to get this family fed and many people wanted to help.”
We named our series Helping Hands because it includes the actions of organizations and community leaders, like those hosting food distributions that include making home deliveries.
From elected officials to the people featured to those who have turned into helpers, the feedback drives us to keep telling these stories.
