Whenever this boy, Aaron Moreno, heard the ice cream truck’s jingle, he looked at his momma with a smile on his face and asked if she could buy him Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
But, his momma didn’t always have a positive answer for her boy-she was living undocumented, was a single parent, and struggling to make ends meet.
It wasn’t easy to buy her son’s favorite snack.
This is when Aaron got inspired and the 8-year-old boy started to sell plants in the east of Los Angeles. His small project transformed into a larger business which helped the family move from living in a shed to an apartment.
Amazing Transformation: Boy, 8, Starts a Business & Takes Family Out of Poverty
His mother, Berenico Pacheco, explained that when she lost her job in March 2020 because of the pandemic, they had to live in a shed. Although the ice cream her son asked for was only $3, when one doesn’t have a job, every cent makes a difference.
Aaron was decisive-he had to help his mother and plus, get some of his favorite snacks. He used the last $12 of his momma to buy succulents and then sold them to their neighbors for smaller profit.
At first, his success was celebrated with a trip to the ice cream shop; this is when he realized they could further spread the business.
This was the start of Aaron’s Garden-they invested the funds to buy more plants and he sold so many since then.
This is when they decided to leave the shed which was becoming hot and crowded. Aaron wasn’t happy there-he also disliked seeing his mother stressed and struggling so much.
For months, every day, he and his momma would wake up at 6 am and took the bus to the flower district and looked for plants that customers would appreciate.
Some days, they sold them from their shed whereas on other days, they made a pop-up shop.
Aaron’s Garden Becomes Popular on Instagram
After Pacheco shared photos of the growing business of her son on Instagram, their friends and family started coming by to offer support and buy plants.
Soon enough, the business went viral and Aaron began receiving hundreds of requests from people who wanted to buy plants.
During the summer, one of Pacheco’s high school friends launched a GoFundMe for support of Aaron’s Garden and to help the family find proper housing-since then, they have amassed more than $40,000.
Pacheco explains that before this business, they often ate only tuna as they had no kitchen and cooked on a small electric stove on a chair outside.
But, their garden saved them and the money from the donations helped them buy a car and find a new apartment.
Now, the boy runs the business from the garage.
The Donations also Help Them Do another Amazing Thing
In addition to finding a new home and buying a car, the business also helped the family reunite with the boy’s sister by bringing her from Mexico.
On one of the pop-up shops, one man actually donated $1000 and the boy used them to bring his 10-year-old sister Ayleen home.
The family had a rough period before this business-they were homeless and dealt with domestic violence in shelters.
So, in 2018, Pacheco sent the girl to live with her family in Mexico because they had financial problems.
For their mother, bringing the girl back with them is the best thing ever-it was so difficult without her and now; they’re finally a whole family. They still have an amazing bond and spent a lot of time together.
They also have another sibling-the youngest Alani who’s 2 years.
Sources:
