The novel coronavirus has taken so much from us since it began in March. It completely changed the way we live our lives, and there’s no guarantee we could go back to normal even after all this is over. The pandemic has claimed many people’s livelihoods and has caused them to close their businesses and lose their jobs.
Berenice Pacheco is one of these people. Though unemployed, this mom is fortunate to have a son who would do anything to help his family.
When 8-year-old Aaron learned she didn’t have a job anymore, he decided to take matters into his own hands. This boy from Boyle Heights revealed the entrepreneur in him and decided to start a business selling plants. He had two main goals for doing this.
First, he wants to help support his family financially so they can move out of the shed where they live at a relative’s home. Second, he hopes to bring his sister, Ayleen, back from Mexico. The girl had been living with their grandmother for the last two years because they didn’t have enough resources to provide her needs.
Berenice says Ayleen is glad to know that her brother is doing everything he could so they can be together again as a family. Every time an airplane flies overhead, the boy points to it and says that’s how his sister will arrive here.
“I want Ayleen to come back,” Aaron says.
Aaron and his mom share a great passion for plants. The boy’s favorite plants are the ‘money tree’ and aloe.
“His favorite, it’s the aloe vera. And he gets a lot of mosquito bites. So we learned that the aloe vera has some type of medicine that heals. So that was awesome to learn,” Berenice said.
That passion soon became a way for them to survive. Berenice only had $12 left in her pocket and told her son they were going to invest it. Aaron then used the money to buy his first set of succulents in June. The mother and son travel by bus to downtown Los Angeles to buy plants in bulk and market them in different parts of the city.
“She told me if I wanted to do something like just spending money smart and then said ‘I would like to make a business,'” the young entrepreneur said. “Well it was going really small, but I didn’t mean for it to grow this way.”
Aaron’s heroic gesture captured the attention of many, including one of her mom’s high school classmates, Esli Ramos. She and her husband wanted to help Berenice and her family, so she created a GoFundMe page for Aaron’s Garden. So far, the fundraiser has exceeded its $1,000 target and has now collected $27,615!
Because of this fundraiser and several exposures on the media, Aaron’s business is becoming more popular.
“We started selling last week. We ran out of plants, and we hope they will run out again, and people will continue to support us,” Berenice said.
Aaron and his mother are grateful for the incredible support they’re getting from others, despite the hardships brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
“People support us by buying plants, following us, leaving us good comments, and they tell us nice things to keep moving forward. It’s what we need,” Berenice said.
Aaron has this to say to all those who helped their business.
“Thank you to all the people that bought a plant from me. It means a lot.”
Aside from moving into a bigger house and bringing his sister back home, Aaron also hopes to get an attorney who would work out his mom’s undocumented status. Berenice came here with a visa, but it has already expired.
Learn more about the story behind Aaron’s Garden in the video below from ABC 7.
It’s amazing to see that this boy already knows the meaning of working hard for your dreams, even at a young age. Help support Aaron’s Garden by sharing this story with your family and friends!