Valley Stream's ‘Teletón Kid’ needs help to make a difference for kids with disabilities

By most measures, Valley Stream Central High School senior Danny Paz is much like any other 17-year-old. He is shy around new people. But that shyness disappears when he becomes Danny the “Teletón Kid,” advocating on behalf of his favorite nonprofit, Children’s Rehabilitation Institute TeletónUSA, a charity that offers comprehensive rehabilitation services to children with neuromuscular diseases, cancer and other disabilities.

Since he was 8 years old, Paz has gone wherever he’s been welcomed at whatever time of year, throughout the village and beyond, to raise funds for the organization. He is one of the most vocal advocates of TeletónUSA, and his story has aired many times on television. His face is known in places around the world.

For those unfamiliar with the charity, generations of Latinos have heard the name Teletón on more than one occasion. Many, like Danny, have the distinct recollection of turning on the TV and tuning in to the 24-hour broadcast of the Teletón charity fundraiser. Originally based in Mexico and produced by the multimedia giant Televisa, the program generates hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

“When we saw the number to donate pop up on screen, my family would always donate,” Paz recalled. He drew inspiration from his grandfather Ronaldo Velázquez, a dedicated donor who frequently recited his life motto that is still seared into Danny’s memory: “It’s better to give than to receive.”

Paz made a smiling mention of an auntie in Peru, who, due to a childhood disability, was told by doctors she “wouldn’t make it past her eighth birthday due to her disability.” She is now 54.

Knowing that a disabled person’s future isn’t as predetermined as people make it seem has “pushed me more to help kids have a chance at life and helping them with their therapies and medications,” Paz said.    

So, when an American offshoot of the program began in 2012, airing on the Univision network, Paz with the help of his mom, Yanina Paz, set off to make a difference. His idea was simple.

“I first started with one little piggy bank and I was asking friends and families around the community to donate,” Danny recounted. “In the first year, I raised $1,300.” The next year, he already welcomed people to stand behind his cause under the “Unámonos a Danny,” or “Let’s Unite with Danny” team.

Paz and his team sold breakfasts and dinners. He enlisted the help of DJs to sell beverages at house parties and small gatherings. He left piggy banks at local delis, at the dojos he’d used to train at, at his Holy Name of Mary Church after Sunday Mass, and even with his teachers for people to drop a donation. During his communion, instead of gifts he asked for donations.

It wasn’t long before he contacted the mayor, who invited him and his piggy bank out during the village’s various events. “The most I raised in any one year was $16,800,” Paz said. During the pandemic, he was forced to rule out in-person donation drives. And in the first year of the pandemic, he lost 16 family members — including his grandfather, his driving force and one of his biggest supporters, to Covid-19.

Paz recalled that his grandfather would not miss an opportunity to ask customers, fellow employees, and his boss at the hair salon where he worked in Miami to donate to his own Teletón piggy bankfor Team Danny.

After his grandfather’s death, Paz leaned even more into his donation efforts. Part tribute to his grandfather, part personal therapy, he designed and sold Teletón Covid masks. He fused his love for karate to create karate-themed T-shirts. It quickly caught the attention of big-name Spanish television personalities and Elvis Duran from the Morning Show who wanted a piece of the memorabilia.

This year, Paz received permission to leave donation boxes at Valley Stream Central High School in the language department.

“Each teacher in the language department has one donation box and they have from Nov. 6 till around Thanksgiving to fill that box with as many donations as they can,” he said. “And the class with the most donations gets free donuts.”

The main thing, Danny said, is not just raising money to “win something. Just by donating, you’re winning these kids’ hearts.”

“These kids can’t walk or run like us, or even tell their parents that they love them, even if you can see it in their eyes,” added Paz, who has paid visits to the children at the TeletónUSA rehabilitation center in Austin, Texas.

“I like seeing them happy. That’s why I tell everyone and anyone to keep donating, keep supporting this amazing cause.”

Have an opinon on this article? Send an email to jlasso@liherald.com.