Readers’ generosity brings aid, comfort, even a water park visit, to South Florida’s neediest
This holiday season, as it has for 41 years, Miami Herald Charities raised money through its Wish Book program to help some of the South Florida people most in need.
The campaign was successful, despite economic challenges facing so many in Miami. Think: rising rents and the lingering COVID pandemic.
After Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald journalists, as well as Florida International University student contributors, told the stories of those in need, about 1,325 readers responded with gifts of money for home repairs and housing. They donated clothing, laptops, medical equipment and even educational opportunities.
The endeavor, which officially began on Thanksgiving, had raised $376,204 as of Friday, with pledges of another $21,000 for ongoing support of several families, said Roberta DiPietro, Wish Book coordinator. The total so far of nearly $400,000 is $5,000 more than the amount raised last year. People can still make donations, past the formal end of this season’s campaign.
Then there are the smiles Wish Book delivered.
Guadalupe Leal, area coordinator for Redland Christian Migrant Association, told the Herald of the Canchola family in Homestead. On Dec. 27, the Herald published a story about Laura Canchola and her four children, ages 5 to 11.
Canchola, 28, became a single mother in August when her husband, Pedro Vasquez, father of their three sons and a daughter, died of a fentanyl overdose.
As Christmas and New Year’s Day approached, his absence weighed heavily, dominating her thoughts. How would she get their kids through the season and beyond? Especially emotionally.
“I just want for things to fall into place,” Canchola told the Herald in December. “I know