Like many people in Southern California, Julio Castro was a commuter. The math teacher lives in Santa Clarita and works at a Jewish private school in L.A.'s Pico-Robertson neighborhood. And he commutes on a bus through terrible L.A. traffic every day. It takes him over two hours to get to work one way.
Students at his school must have realized the hard time he had getting to work. They gave up their summer and worked with local nonprofit organizations like Galpin Motors to raise more than $30,000. They bought Castro a 2019 Mazda CX-3 and had money leftover to buy gas and car insurance for an entire year.
Castro says he is much happier now that he has his own vehicle and can spend more time with his family.
"Now that I have a car, I get to drop off my kids every morning. And then coming here with time to spare, I can use it on my lesson plans. Then on my way back, traffic is still bad, but I'll be able to make it for dinner," he said.
Helping others is always a good thing, but it's even more beautiful when that help can change someone's life for the better. So kudos to these students for their amazing fundraising skills and big hearts.
Source: ABC Los Angeles