The boy helped his family during the great depression because the boy wanted to get money so they won't be poor or with no food. In the story, it says that the boy wanted a bicyle for his birthday his parents  gave him a dime for his birthday because they were poor.  Also In the story, it says that the boy and Jaocb saw a woman who had on shabby clothes on and the boy gave her the birthday dime.  The boy and his friend  Jaocb  saw the boy's father  selling apples and tears came down the boy's face and he said  he wished that someone would buy an apple from him. The author is trying to tell me that the boy helped is family by not telling his mother that he saw his father selling apples to make money. The boy and Jaocb went to work and they sold newspapers to help his family. In the story it says that  Babe Ruth gave the boy a 5 dollar bill and he was happy. This shows that the boy wanted to help his family by selling newspaper. This reminds me of when we had to sell something and I got lots of money just like the boy in the story. You have read how the boy wanted to help out his family during the great depression.