A mother-son duo in West Roxbury are sending grocery store gift cards to disabled families in need

Esteban Barriga holding Stop & Shop gift cards collected for families with disabilities.

With roughly 30 million Americans out of work since the coronavirus outbreak started, many are turning to food banks for the first time. But Maribel Rueda, 49, and her son Esteban Barriga, 23, of West Roxbury noticed a problem — standing in line at a food distribution site is difficult or impossible for many people with disabilities.

So, Barriga, who has autism, and Rueda began raising funds to collect grocery store gift cards.

Families are referred to the mother-son duo through the COVID-19 Response Center. As of Monday, they have donated more than $1,000 in gift cards to 18 families in need. 

“We are helping people who are disabled…who are poor, who have no money, and [who] can’t go get groceries,” said Barriga. 

Rueda said outreach from families all share a similar need. “You know, ‘I can’t go wait in the food bank line and even if I could, I have dietary restrictions. I need to have produce, and they don’t give you that at a food bank,’…Kids with autism, who are on a gluten-free diet, cannot eat canned food, they are on a strict diet. So this is why Esteban and I were like, ‘wait a minute, how are these people getting the nutrition they need?’” 

Rueda is the founder and president of Autism Geniuses of the World, a nonprofit that connects families affected by autism with resources in both Spanish and English. 

Rueda said she was particularly touched by the story of one Cambridge mother with two autistic children. 

“She contacted me and she says, ‘I saw you in the news. We have two kids with autism so this really touched me personally. I’m really struggling, I live on food stamps, and you don’t know how much help this will be for me,’” said Rueda. Rueda later sent the woman $125 in Stop & Shop gift cards.

Rueda and Barriga set up a Facebook page and a CashApp account for donations. Families in need of help can contact Rueda directly.