The boy in the story helped his family during the great depression by selling newspapers.
In the story it says that the boy in the story was hoping to get a bicycle, but his parents only gave him a dime. Also in the story it says that the boy sold newspapers to help his family during the great depression. In the story it also says that the boy was disapointed when he saw his father selling apples, because the dad kept saying that he had a job but he was lying to the family he should have told the truth and get it over with.
This shows that the boy in the story did a lot of things in the story to help his family during the great depression like selling newspapers, and keeping his dad's secret so the family won`t fall apart. One last thing the boy  was helping 
out.
This reminds me of  a time I was lying to my parents about washing the dishes and they put me on punishment. Just like the boy`s dad lied about having a job and the boy caught his dad selling apples. What about you?