A South Bay teacher is at the heart of a lesson in giving.
Esther Bono's family home was gutted by fire last week. Now some of her first grade students are looking to help her family get back on their feet.
What started as an afternoon brush fire in South San Jose last Wednesday ended in disaster for the Bono family. When the smoke cleared, their home was gone.
The family lost nearly everything, including a new mountain bike their oldest son had just received for his birthday.
"It's unfortunate," Bono's sister, Jamie Kim, said. "As an older sister, I really feel for her."
The family said in an incomprehensible act of callousness, police reported that on that same night after the home was red-tagged, burglars came in and took what was left, including jewelry and other belongings.
"It was such a low blow, such a gut punch," school parent Daniel Zazueta said. "It’s just adding insult to injury."
Local
Olivia Zazueta and her first grade classmates at Trace Elementary School decided it was time to act. Teachers are their heroes, she said, and now their hero needed some help.
"You love your teacher and you really want to help her as much as you can because something very terrible happened to her," Olivia said.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. >Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
This Sunday, when the streets of San Jose are closed for another Viva Calle event, the first graders at Trace Elementary will be selling lemonade and cookies to raise funds to help their hero.
"I’m so proud of this type of student, this girl, the big sister she is," Daniel said.
Bono’s family also started a GoFundMe campaign, but they said nothing compares to the heart and the gestures of 6 year olds.
"That is just so pure and kind coming from a first grader," Kim said.
