SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — A Peruvian couple stranded in Snohomish County because of the pandemic with no money, nowhere to go, and limited knowledge of the English language is getting help after a group of strangers saw the couple in need.
"Hello. Hi. My name is Lucy." Those are just about the only words Lucy Mendoza knows in English.
She and her husband Gregorio came to Washington from Peru in January to visit family and got stranded here when the coronavirus pandemic hit.
They were supposed to leave in March but couldn't get a flight home until September.
After a falling out with their family the couple ended up camped under a gazebo in a Bothell neighborhood.
No food, no money, no knowledge of English — in the midst of a global health crisis.
"We saw the luggage next to them and we could tell they had no place to stay," said neighbor Ileana Koons, who spotted the couple with her husband John, Friday night.
"The first thing in my mind was that I needed to help them," Ileana said.
"They looked tired, hungry and afraid," John added.
Ileana, a native of Costa Rica, translated while John called police.
Snohomish County Deputy Jonathan Krajcar tried to find the couple space at a local shelter, but they were all full.
Knowing he had to buy the couple time to find a solution, Krajcar paid for three nights at a motel out of his own pocket.
Other deputies added one more night and bought groceries.
"They weren't the type to ask for help," Krajcar said. "They didn't want to be a bother. That touched my heart. They were just two people in need and I needed to help them."
Figuring the couple would need about $3,000 for food and lodging until their flight in September, the Koonses started a Go Fund Me page and raised all that money in less than 24 hours.
"We are very thankful for all the people who helped us," said Gregorio, through Ileana. "We were worried about the cold."
The Mendozas are now getting help from the Peruvian Consulate and hope to fly back at the end of the month on a humanitarian flight.
At a time when the coronavirus catchphrase "we're all in this together" is plastered on billboards and public service announcements, the kindness of this Bothell community proved it to be true.
"We are helping them. Tomorrow we might need help and somebody can help us too," Ileana said. "As a world, we need to help each other."
A very grateful Lucy Mendoza offered the three remaining words she knows in English to those who helped her and her husband in their time of need.
"I love you," she said, extending her arms as if to embrace the world.