Amid the hum of office tasks in a now-viral video, Erika Perez was overcome with emotion as colleagues gathered for a surprise baby shower, celebrating a missed rite of passage for the soon-to-be mother of four.
“We went out to lunch one day and she was telling me she hadn’t had a baby shower, and...she was asking me if I ever had one and I was saying, 'yeah,'” said Erika’s coworker Marchaela Troupe.
With Perez due in a matter of weeks, Troupe and her coworkers decided to give her a celebration at work. She recorded the sweet moment and posted it to TikTok.
“I posted it and within one hour it went crazy, it went viral,” said an astonished Troupe. “I think they could just see the raw and genuine emotion and what it meant to her. They connected with that.”
The video racked up millions of views, and thousands of people all over the nation wanted to be a part of the giving.
Troupe secretly set up a registry for Perez on Amazon and items were purchased almost immediately. The amazing act of kindness toward the expecting mom was revealed a few days later when she rolled in a cart full of packages.
“I was like, 'what baby registry?' I never registered, I never made one, and they gave me the gifts and I felt so overwhelmed,” said Perez.
“We had about four or five baby showers,” said Troupe with a laugh.
For Perez and her family, the help couldn’t have come at a better time. The pregnancy was unexpected, only discovered after a recent surgery. The medical costs had already put them on a tight budget.
“We weren’t financially ready to have another baby because of all of our medical bills and stuff,” said Perez.
In the sprint of so much generosity, Perez decided to immediately pay it forward.
“Because [of] all of the stuff we got, I was able to give back to seven families and four of them were from domestic violence shelters,” she said.
One kind act from her coworkers set off a chain reaction of good will, paving the way for an ever-expanding cycle of generosity they intend to continue.
Troupe recently began an organization called “It Takes A Village to Raise a Child” with plans to help other less-privileged mothers experience the baby showers they deserve.
“I don’t even think 'thank you' is enough, but that’s all I can really say because I can’t give them a hug, you know,” said Perez to all the TikTok users who sent her love.