The boy in the story helped his family in the great depression by selling  newspaper. In the story, the author said it  was the  boy's  birthday and the dad only gave the boy a birthday dime . Also in story the boy saw his father selling apples so the boy tried to help out. This shows that the boy really care for his family. This reminds me of when I tried to help my cousin  by  helping  him  get up just like the boy in the story helped his family.