Family of 8 kids gets help night before school starts thanks to community collaboration

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – For one Lincoln grandmother, raising 8 children hasn’t been easy; when it came to getting them ready for their first day of school, she needed help.

She reached out to a local nonprofit, but due to limitations it faced, they referred her to a local Lincoln woman known for helping children.

What happened next became a touching reminder of the power behind neighbors helping neighbors.

When non-profit St. Vincent de Paul first learned about a Lincoln grandmother needing help getting the 8 kids she’s raising ready for their first day of school, they wanted to help.

“We are Catholic, but we serve everyone to bring the love of Jesus to them,” said Caroline May, a St. Vincent de Paul volunteer and retired nurse.

“Here in Lincoln, this last year, we have visited 1,217 individuals.”

However, the group relies on funds raised by their parishioners which limited their ability to help the grandmother in need.

“When we feel we can’t handle more needs, we look to the community to see who is out there,” said May.

That’s when she made a call to Cathy Martinez, who leads the group, ‘Walking with Moms in need’, a ministry started through the Catholic Church.

Martinez, also the President of the Autism Family Network, says she will always make room to help those in need after overcoming her own challenges and beating a cancer diagnosis.

“Every morning, I would wake up and say, okay, God, you want me here, what’s the opportunity that you are going to put in front of me to serve?” said Martinez.

When May told Martinez about the eight children, she immediately made a Facebook post asking for items they could use.

She recognized the urgency of the matter, with school fast approaching, and less than 12 hours later…

“We had $1,300. collected in a matter of 12 hours overnight. I wasn’t surprised people wanted to help, they just need the avenue to do so,” said Martinez.

As quickly as the funds came in, they were transferred to May, who took the family on a shopping trip to Walmart the night before school started.

“Well, they immediately went to the areas that would meet their needs,” said May.

She described to Channel 8 on Friday how the older kids, helped the younger kids choose items unique to their own style.

And after the trip was wrapped up?

“They were just so happy when they left that they didn’t have to worry about going to school tomorrow,” said May.

May and Martinez later received texts from the grandmother about how great all the children looked walking into their classrooms.

Both women agree that they couldn’t have gotten it done without each other.

Martinez had this to say about others who are looking for ways to help their community.

“We always hear about the bad things that people do, but we also need to see that there’s so many good people in the world that want to help,” she said.

“They just need that opportunity to be presented to them as well,” she said.

If you would like to help support what St. Vincent de Paul is doing, you can access click here.

If you would like to help support what Martinez is doing with ‘Walking with Mom’s in Need,’ you can click here, or email her at Cathykmart@yahoo.com.