When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out two years ago, nobody knew what was about to happen. All we knew was that we had to stay at home, both adults and children, and hope for this thing to end soon.
However, not everyone had the luxury to safely stay at home. Those people considered “essential workers” still had to go to work and possibly meet numerous people every day.
One of the jobs that cannot be done remotely is a security guard. Like Jenn Marie Velasquez.
Velasquez is a single mom of three from Boston, who, during the pandemic, still had to work onsite. She didn’t have the option of working online and she was already starting to stress out thinking that her children would stay at home without her, when she went grocery shopping for them.
When the mother went to Star Market by the Prudential Center to buy all the necessary stuff for her family, she was convinced that the coronavirus pandemic stimulus check would’ve already been added to her bank account by then. Only it hadn’t.
When she got to the cashier with her cart full of goodies for her children, she faced the biggest disappointment. Her EBT card was declined, which meant that she could not purchase what she had carefully chosen for her kids.
At that point, she broke down crying. She was already stressed about the fact that she had to work during the pandemic, she had already been anxious about her children staying at home without her, but having no food to provide them with was the worst.
“My job is my only source of income,” Velazquez told Boston 25 News. “One of my biggest concerns was [my kids] don’t have enough to eat when I’m not there.”
So, she just went outside, sat on the sidewalk, and started crying.
Next thing she knew, a man in a police uniform approached her.
“I’m at the check outline and my card isn’t going through,” said Velazquez. “All I could do at this point is sit outside and cry. This gentleman comes along asked if I was ok, I see a Boston police uniform [and] I’m thinking I’m in trouble, I’m crying and coughing.”
When she explained to the officer what had just happened, the man, identified as Ben Peguero, told her that they would go back inside and buy stuff for the kids.
“I felt bad for her and I told her, ‘Come in with me, we will go in and grab some things,’” said Peguero. “When I approached the cashier, I could see cereal, and items kids like to eat.”
The cart that was still at the cashier had $200 worth of food Velasquez’s children love to eat. Peguero paid for everything, and the single mom couldn’t be more grateful for his act of generosity!
In a video from CBS Boston, she says:
“I don’t even know how to thank you at this point. But it’s truly a blessing and it was such a huge relief for this single mom. There’s no way you could maybe even understand how much you helped me, but thank you. Thank you so much!”
Since then, Velasquez has been trying to pay it forward by helping others in need.
Watch Velasquez and Peguero talk about this heartwarming story in the video below!
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