Local Hearts Co-Founder Tito Rodriguez chosen by Helpful Honda People

Last week a sincerely memorable day took place at Local Hearts Foundation. Thanks to all the nominations from the community, our co-founder Tito Rodriguez was chosen to be helped by the Helpful Honda People!

On behalf of South Bay Honda, we were privileged and honored to be part of blessing four different homes/families. The first one being that of our very own The Hood Santa. The rest of the small Local Hearts team first met up with Honda and ABC 7 nearby to prepare and begin the quiet walk over to surprise Tito, and surprised he was! The Helpful Honda People gifted him a brand new iPad and keyboard which was very much needed to continue doing work for the community and foundation.

Photos by Local Hearts Foundation Photographer: Alex Brand

We then gathered in different cars to begin our adventure of distributing goods and essentials to each family. This included several bags full of Diamond Supply Co. and Grizzly gear (clothes/masks), and board games, school supplies, Amazon tablets, as well as bags of rice and beans provided by The Helpful Honda People. We were accompanied by Los Angeles artist Big Sleeps who obligingly gifted each family Norms gift cards for a meal or two on him. Lucille’s BBQ was also more than gracious to provide beauty salon gift cards to each family.

One of our stops was the home of Jesse, single father of five girls. We first became acquainted after Tito noticed him walking his daughters to school every morning in Long Beach. Thanks to team work and to the community, we were able to gift Jesse and his daughters a mini van last year. The families we visited have all been long-time volunteers and supporters of Local Hearts Foundation. Always the earliest to arrive, and also stay and help clean up after events. Their dedication in donating their time and energy to give back to the community is more than commendable and inspires us to continue the work we do.

To everyone involved in making this beautiful day happen: we cannot thank you enough! We are exceedingly grateful to South Bay Honda and The Helpful Honda People, for helping us give back to local hearts in need. Thank you to the crew at ABC 7 for sharing this story and capturing all the incredible moments of this unforgettable day. A huge shoutout and special thanks to our partners and sponsors Diamond Supply Co., Grizzly Grip Tape, Big Sleeps, and Lucille’s BBQ.

Most importantly, thank you to the community for your support and nominations! “It will be us who saves us!” -Tito Rodriguez