Season to Share: Readers donate more than $600K to local needy families

Liam Cruz, age 11, loves to gaze up through the sunroof window of his family’s new van, the adaptive vehicle that makes it easier for his mom to transport him in his wheelchair.

The customized van was one of the blessings the Lake Worth Beach boy received, thanks to the generosity of Palm Beach Post readers who contributed to the annual Season to Share drive in late 2022 and early 2023.

In all, Liam’s story and those of nine other local families raised $618,515. Those donations may not cure the rare, life-threatening condition that Liam battles daily. But they gave him a window to the sky.

“Liam has been squealing with delight. He loves the van. He loves going to the beach, and he loves the sunroof,” says Owen O’Neill, the founder and CEO of Clinics Can Help, the nonprofit agency that nominated Liam to be part of Season to Share.

The van, says O’Neill, makes it easier for Liam’s mom, Nicole Bolufé, to shuttle him to doctors’ appointments, physical therapy and school. At age 3, doctors diagnosed her son with Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome, a brain development disorder that impedes movement and causes severe intellectual disability.

What it means for Liam and his family is a race against time. With the boy’s diagnosis came the news that many who are stricken with this syndrome “don’t have a long lifespan at all,” Bolufé told The Post.

“It’s a heartbreaking condition,” says O’Neill. “He’s such a lovely boy.”

Liam’s story has resonated widely, and reached producers for the Lifetime TV network home-improvement series “Designing Spaces.” They partnered with local and national brands to help make Liam’s home a more accessible space for him to move, play and learn. They’ve added wheelchair ramps, a new mattress, a postural-support stroller, a new water heater and other fixtures.

“They converted the garage to a rehab gym to help him with his therapy exercises,” says O’Neill.

The special episode, “Designing Spaces of Hope: Liam’s Story,” airs on May 12 and May 18 at 7:30 a.m. on Lifetime.

More: Season to Share Stories of struggling families in our county

A new home for the Torres Family

In another Lake Worth Beach home, another Season to Share family also had new blessings to count. In fact, when dad Nelson Torres thinks of where he and his family were just months ago, he can’t believe where they are today: In a new, three-bedroom townhome, just across from a park where his children can play.

He also has a car now, a donated 2015 Kia sedan, and doesn’t have to walk to work or borrow rides to Miami and Hollywood when his wife and their daughters have important medical appointments.

“There are times when I wake up in the morning and I still can’t fathom the fact that in the matter of two months we went from living in a hotel room to living in a house. Everyone is so cheerful and upbeat,” says Torres, who works as a veterinary technician to support his family of six.

In a sense, having been homeless was the least of his family’s worries. His wife Raysa Torres and the family’s two older girls, Iriana, 17, and Anaya, 16, suffer from neurofibromatosis type 2, a condition that produces tumors in the nervous system. While the tumors are mostly benign, they are debilitating, often affecting the brain and spine.

Most recently, Anaya, the daughter of Raysa’s late sister, underwent a 12-hour surgery to remove a brain tumor that threatened her vision, hearing and mobility, Torres says.

“She did well. Some of her hearing was restored. She’s still learning to walk. The stairs in the new house are helping her with exercise,” he says.

Torres says their overall hardships are fewer, thanks to the kindness of strangers who read about their story in the Season to Share series. Anonymous donors made the new car and rental townhome possible, he says.

“We are beyond blessed,” says Torres. “It’s wonderful to know that people still care, not just for my family but for all the families that were nominated.”

A special van for a special boy

For Michelle Thivierge, a car ride with her young son, Roman Burnette, has never been simply a car ride. To ensure her boy’s safety and comfort, Thivierge must cart various oxygen tanks and other supplies for his medical needs.

At age 5, Roman cannot walk, feed himself or speak. He was born with Down syndrome, chronic lung disease and a pulmonary condition that restricts the blood flow that would allow him to breathe freely. He relies on his mother as greatly as he relies on his oxygen tanks.

With the help of Season to Share contributors, Roman’s nominating agency was able to purchase a converted van to help transport the boy, his oxygen tanks and other supplies. The donations also allowed the Chasin a Dream Foundation to provide Thivierge with supplies for Roman’s care.

“Michelle has expressed her gratitude on the ease of (their) burdens,” said Chasin a Dream patient navigator Lisa St. Amand. The mother “is excited for the freedom and safety the van will provide.”

Season to Share generosity lifts other lives as well

In West Palm Beach, where Liana Curbelo battles stage 3 cancer, there’s more stability in the life of the 31-year-old mother. Season to Share donations allowed her agency, Families First of Palm Beach County, to contribute to her rent and car payments.

Season to Share also allowed Barbara Hutchison to move into an apartment and reunite with her pet cats after medical woes and job insecurities had landed the woman in the county's homeless shelter. Hutchison's nominating agency, The Arc of Palm Beach County, also reports that "Season to Share funds will allow her to get (needed) surgeries to improve her quality of life without jeopardizing her financial stability."

In Belle Glade, Season to Share provided needed hope for Jose Ortega. The former bodega worker who suffered a debilitating workplace accident nearly 10 years ago had taken shelter in a dilapidated mobile home.

Beset by medical problems, many of them brought on by the accident in which a pile of concrete fell on his back, the 62-year-old Ortega was rejected for Social Security disability payments four times.

Thanks to Season to Share donations, Ortega’s nominating agency, The Glades Initiative, was able to buy food and clothing for him and pay transportation, phone costs, medical and other living expenses. Because of his unsafe living conditions, Ortega was moved into a homeless shelter until he secures more permanent housing.

About Season to Share

In its 27th year, The Palm Beach Post’s Season to Share charity drive has raised more than $16.6 million for needy families and individuals in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.

Reader donations are managed and distributed to local nonprofit agencies by the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Lake Worth Beach boy's plight catches home-improvement show's attention