expresses gratitude
for donations
Widow in Mexico
expresses gratitude
for donations
By clare marie celano
Staff Writer
The life of Fulgencio Sosa-Cortes, an immigrant to the United States who was fatally injured by a felled tree while working on a job site in Jackson Township on June 12, has touched people he will never have the opportunity to meet.
Several of these people came to Freehold Borough on a recent morning to offer assistance to Cortes’ widow and the two children he left behind in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Michelle Wells of Freehold and Allison Graf of Jackson found their way to the office of Cecilia Rey-nolds, a reporter for and the publisher of Nosotros, a Spanish language newspaper, on the morning of Sept. 2. They came in response to a Greater Media Newspapers article that told of Cortes’ long and difficult journey to America and of his death earlier this summer.
The two women, toting children of their own with them on a rainy morning, came to lend support to a fellow human being, albeit one they will probably never meet. They opened their hearts as well as their wallets to help a person in need.
The money donated by Wells and Graf will be enough to support Cortes’ widow, Eneida, and her children Omar, 11, and Brenda, 9, for at least another month, according to Reynolds.
After exchanging pleasantries, Reynolds arranged a telephone call to Mexico.
As the women sat with a watchful eye toward their children who played happily around Reynolds’ office, they heard the voice of the woman they had come to help coming across the miles.
Reynolds told Eneida about Wells and Graf and about how they were moved by her husband’s story. She told the young widow the women wanted to help the family he left behind.
Eneida, who was surprised and touched by the offer of financial assistance, according to Reynolds, expressed her thanks and appreciation to the two families who stopped their busy lives to take the time to help someone they had never even met.
Eneida said she was very moved by the fact that they would do this for her.
"This means so much to us," the widow said in Spanish.
Eneida told Reynolds, who had arranged the conversation on speaker phone so that Wells and Graf could exchange words and conversation, that "this is a very special thing you are doing."
In an emotional conversation, Eneida said she could not even find the right words to say what she felt in her heart. Nonetheless, her voice, strained with the tears she was holding back, went on.
"May God bless you. I will pray for you always. I feel so blessed that you have felt this desire to give to us," she said.
Graf told Eneida that she hoped the money would help and that it would be enough for a while.
"You have no idea how much this will help," Eneida answered.
The conversation ended with a smile when, after a brief pause from Reynolds, the women heard Eneida say "thank you" in English.
After the telephone conversation, Reynolds took the two women, their children and a Greater Media Newspapers reporter on a walk to West Main Street to Mily Envios, a shop that caters to the Hispanic residents of Freehold Borough.
The entourage walked to the back of the store where behind an open window stood a woman who would make the transfer of American funds directly to Mexico, making them available to Cortes’ widow immediately.
Reynolds helped the women with the documents needed to complete the transfer. A sudden hush came over her as she was told that the woman behind the counter already knew of Eneida.
"Oh, she’s already in the computer," said the woman.
A quiet realization came that this was the place Cortes had come week after week during his year in America to send the bulk of his earnings home to his beloved wife and children in Mexico.
After returning to the Nosotros office, Wells and Graf had time to talk about what brought them to Freehold on this gray day, walking babies, toddlers and school-age children in the rain across town.
Wells said she and her husband, Maurice, were touched by Cortes’ story. The young mother of Mason, 2, and Miranda, 9 months, said, "We wanted to help this young Mexican widow and her two children who have been through so much. God put us on this earth for a reason. To share our love and to share His love."
Graf, who brought along Aaron, 6, and Amber, 3, said she read the story about Cortes and "didn’t realize what a hard life they [the immigrants] had."
"It’s unbelievable," she added. "They are so close to us and it seems we are not doing anything to help them."
Graf and her husband, Robert Bialoglow, decided to help on their own.
The afternoon of Sept. 2 brought Bob and Barbara Purcell to the office of Nosotros. The retired couple who recently moved to Jackson from Long Island, N.Y., said they were "upset and appalled at the struggle and the lifestyle" immigrants face here.
Both said they took Cortes’ story to heart and wanted to do something to help Eneida and her family.
"We didn’t know this existed," Bob Purcell said. "We never realized how these people are forced to live once they arrive here and how much they have to go thorough just to get here."
Cortes came to the United States illegally, crossing the desert into Arizona before being brought with other illegal immigrants to Freehold Borough.
Purcell said that before he and his wife arrived at Reynolds’ office, they made their own trip down Throckmorton Street to see for themselves where the immigrants line up each day with the hope of securing a job.
"I never realized how much they had to pay to get here," he said, referring to the money the illegal immigrants pay to the guide who leads them across the U.S. border.
He then asked Reynolds how much it would cost to buy a farm in Mexico. It had been noted in the story about Cortes that his dream was to work in the United States for a year and then return home to purchase a small farm for his family.
Reynolds said that although she wasn’t certain, she thought $10,000 might buy a small farm and some animals.
"Why don’t they apply the $4,000 they are forced to pay for transport to the United States to a farm or a house in Mexico?" Purcell asked.
"You don’t understand," Reynolds said. "That money is borrowed. They borrow it to come here. No one will lend it to them if they stay in Mexico, only if they come to America because they feel then they will get it back."
Purcell and his wife came with open hearts and an open wallet, graciously donating funds to assist Cortes’ family.
"A man died," he said. "We want to help to give his family his dream. We’re only here for a short time. We’re all here on Earth to help each other. We’re all brothers."
Purcell added that he thought it was good to see "the [immigrants’] side of the story."
"It appears that these people are in debt up to their ears. We never realized the sacrifices they had to make in order to come here. For every one that makes it here, there are 10 that have failed. Then, they may turn to crime, and then we have failed," he said quietly.
Purcell used the following story to sum up his feelings about helping Cortes’ family.
"A young lad was seen walking along the beach. Surrounding him were hundreds of starfish. He would methodically pick up a starfish and throw it back into the water. A passer-by stopped to ask the young lad why he was doing that. ‘You can’t possibly do anything to help. You can’t get all of them,’ the passer-by said.
"No, but I can make a difference for this one," the youngster answered.
"You do what you can," Purcell concluded.