Submitted by Fatin Sako
Three local teenage brothers recently held a fundraiser to raise $6,000 for Santa Clarita Grocery to purchase two large refrigerator units.
Many people have been affected financially by COVID-19, so they are receiving groceries from Santa Clarita Grocery. The boys found a need to do a fundraiser to purchase the refrigerators to store the dairy that’s being donated.
“I’ve always been involved in humanitarian ventures throughout my life and have encouraged my sons to do the same,” said Fatin Sako, mother of the teens and a local retail pharmacist said. “During COVID, we all started out in March by collecting N95 masks and other personal protective equipment for the local physicians because there was a huge shortage. We were able to collect over 3,000 masks and donate them to the physicians. Once that project was done, we moved on to volunteering at Santa Clarita Grocery in May of this year and the boys found a need to fundraise for the refrigerators. My mama heart is happy.”
Her son Alexander, 17, said it was a rewarding experience.
“Collecting money to help Santa Clarita grocery and the people they support really made me feel good,” Alexander said. “It was amazing to see people coming together and helping out people who really need it the most. COVID restrictions have been hard on everyone and helping the community is the least we can do to make the world a better place.”
His younger brothers echoed the sentiment.
“To collect the donations from the community, my brothers and I worked on making a website and a GoFundMe,” said Jonathon, 15. “It was really great seeing the community come together to fix an existing problem. It was nice seeing all the names of people who donated and helped us reach our goal. I even recognized some of the donors. My brothers and I asked everyone we knew to donate. We even asked our mom to spread the word on social media since we don’t have any social media accounts.”
Added Nathan, 12: “One day when I was putting away the dairy at Santa Clarita Grocery, I saw that the refrigerators were breaking down and were old, so I brought up the need to Bradley, the founder of Santa Clarita Grocery. When I asked him about the need, I also asked if my brothers and I could start a fundraiser for the refrigerators and he said that we could.
“I told my family that I wanted us to start a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help the needs of other people,” Nathan said. “Our starting goal was $3,000, because we only needed one refrigerator, but afterwards, we decided to raise the goal to $6,000 to purchase two brand new refrigerators. We were so happy to achieve our goal and to have blessed others, especially during this difficult time of COVID and quarantine.”
Saber Patrus, father of the teens and a local physician at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital said, “I am so proud of my boys for stepping up to help the less fortunate, especially during these difficult times. We all have to do our part to help others. They are always looking for ways to help out in our community and are currently looking for their next project.”
