It all started in late September 2017. Puerto Rico was devastated by a Category 5 hurricane, Maria. The entire island had no power. At this time, I was a freshman at FSU. We had just had a week off of classes due to Hurricane Irma. Lucky for us, it did not do much damage to Tallahassee. When I had heard about the devastation that was happening in Puerto Rico, I immediately turned to Twitter. You see, I am a huge Los Angeles Dodgers fan, and my favorite player, Enrique (Kike) Hernandez, and his fiancé, Mariana, were born and raised in Puerto Rico. When I went to his Twitter page, I saw he had a fundraiser for disaster relief. I felt like I needed to help because Tallahassee was just spared from disaster. So, I started an online auction to raise money for Kike's fundraiser. It was a week-long auction that raised $1175. I was so excited to be able to help out with something I was very passionate about.

Fast forward to Statement Day for Dance Marathon at FSU. I was so determined to reach my goal of $1000 that day. At about 7:00 p.m., I decided to tweet Kike and ask if he could just donate five dollars to help me reach my goal. I sent the tweet and went to a meeting that night. As I was walking up the stairs in my resident's hall, I had received a text indicating I had gotten a $100 donation. The text did not say who it was from, so I quickly checked my email, and to my surprise, it read, "Thanks for going out of your way to help our Fundraiser for Puerto Rico! The world needs more people like you! You rock!!" from Kike and Mariana Hernandez.

I immediately went to Twitter and thanked them both for their generosity, and that it meant to world to me. Since then, I had been to many Dodgers baseball games but had no luck of meeting Kike. That was until I had the chance to attend batting practice in at an Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game, where Kike came up to speak with some personal friends. I gathered myself together and quietly said, "Kike, will you please sign my shirt for me?" He so kindly did so, but I could not let him leave before telling him who I was. He immediately knew who I was, and we continued to thank each other. I was so happy that after he left, I just fell into tears.

I am so thankful for people like Kike and Mariana. Kike and Mariana, thanks for going out of your way to help me with my fundraiser for Dance Marathon! The world needs more people like you both!