PO Team: This article was published originally on April 11, 2019.
Each of us will have to deal with the loss of our parents at some point. It is a difficult day, but one that we all must face.
Loss is hard enough on its own, but it can be even more difficult to bear the burden of caring for five younger siblings. Samantha Rodriguez, 20 years old, is living this hard reality.
Samantha and her siblings lost their parents to cancer. As the oldest living member of the family, she took over the role of raising her five younger siblings – who were aged five to sixteen – all on her own.
News of their unfortunate situation reached the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit, so the team decided to give the children a “Christmas to remember” Last year.
The group informed the children that they would be visiting the aviation hangar to take a tour. But what they didn’t know was that there were piles of gifts waiting for them inside the office.
Santa Claus welcomed them with a warm greeting when they arrived at his house. “Ho ho ho!”, The children ran to him and gave him a hug. After receiving their gifts, they opened them with wide smiles and saw the beautiful items inside.
The OCSO posted the video on their Facebook page, for the rest to see. It was an unforgettable Christmas for the Rodriguez family and the aircraft unit, and neither party expected it to end there.
However, beautiful stories like this just don’t conclude that simply. This is especially true when you consider the combined power and generosity of social media and a supportive community.
The Christmas surprise video reached many members of the community, and they reached out the deputies to ask what they could do to help the Rodriguez brothers.
After receiving enough donations from several anonymous donors, the OCSO gifted the family with another bigger surprise – a brand new Nissan Versa!
Samantha was presented with the new car by the OCSO. She said:
“You don’t know how much this means to us. It’s such a big help, really. Doing everything on my own is very hard but I’m so glad to have people like you guys in my life.”
Samantha took the vehicle to her younger siblings, and they couldn’t believe it when she told them that the car was theirs. They kept asking. “This is ours?”, and when the truth finally sunk in, they had nothing but thank you to say to the sheriff’s office, and said in the end: “We love you guys!”
The Rodriguez siblings now have one less thing to worry about and it would make it easier for them to get around.
The family was pleasantly surprised by the new car in the video below.
A community working together for a cause is nothing but possible.
