Bay Area sixth-grader inspires outpouring of support

‘I can’t believe people actually care about what happens to me in my life’

Maddie Godoy isn’t the kind of kid who makes a Christmas wish list. She doesn’t think much about things such as gifts because her family is always struggling to make ends meet.

“I just want everyone to be happy,” the bright-eyed sixth grader said. “That’s all I want for Christmas.”

But this year, Christmas may be coming early. Dozens of readers have responded to this news organization’s article about Godoy and other students in East Palo Alto’s hardscrabble Ravenswood school district, which has one of the highest percentages of students classified as homeless in the Bay Area. They plan to donate funds to help Maddie and other students at Ravenswood Middle School, where almost a quarter of the students lack a fixed, adequate night-time residence.

Godoy’s whole face lit up when she heard that people she has never met are willing to try to help her.

“It makes me so happy,” she said, sitting on the school’s lawn during her lunch break. “I can’t believe that people actually care about what happens to me in my life.”

When Maddie told her mother, Erika Godoy broke down. Though the family currently has a one-bedroom apartment, earlier this year they lived in a garage for six months.

“She was so happy she just started crying,” said Maddie, who is planning to become the household treasurer and help her mom budget any extra money they receive. She said one of the first things they need is diapers for her 2-year-old brother, Iker. Other money will go to food and rent.

“I wanted to cry too but I’m trying hard not to,” she said.

When pressed to answer what gift she would want if she could have anything at all, she says a laptop to do homework on. Right now, she uses a smartphone but the pages don’t look right.

Maddie’s friend, Mayra Arias, who also has coped