01x14 - Dynamic Daniella

[bunniefuu]

[narrator] At Marvel,
our stories and our superheroes

are inspired by real-life heroes.

So, the editors of some of
our best-known comics

have come together
to work on a special project:

to find and tell the stories
of kids doing the extraordinary,

helping communities near and far,
and changing the world.

These are the kids who will inspire
our stories for years to come.

[Daniella] It's always made me really sad
when I see homeless people.

I want people to be able to experience
what being safe is.

As long as you have perseverance,
you can do anything.

[narrator] Daniella is already a hero.

Now we bring her story to the world
with the surprise of a lifetime:

making her into a Marvel superhero,

immortalized in her very own comic,

as a member of Marvel's Hero Project.

They're everyday kids...

Who have accomplished the amazing.

Now, their true stories...

Will reveal the heroes that live among us.

This is Marvel's Hero Project.

[Sana Amanat] So, I think it takes
a special kind of person,

a special kind of hero
to think outside of themselves

and look at people who are
going through difficulties

and suffering and wanna help them.

-That's exactly what Daniella has done.
-Yeah.

Daniella is doing such great work

building houses for those less fortunate,
raising funds.

And I think we can create
a really special story with her.

This work she's doing,
building houses, is amazing.

Yeah. I mean, I feel like she has inspired
her entire family

and the people around her,
and her friends.

I love that idea of just spreading
the goodness all around.

Yeah, that's what our heroes--
I mean, that's one of the big,

biggest thing they do is inspire.

Like the way Captain Marvel inspired
a whole group of girls, the Carol Corps,

to, like, follow her
and do good things for people.

Like, it's not just her.
She's spreading it out.

What's interesting is the fact
that she exposed herself to--

for lack of a better word--
how, you know, another side lives.

And it's that exposure
that really inspired her.

She really felt something
and acted upon it.

You know, and in that case,
she reminds me a lot of Thor.

'Cause, you know,
Thor came to Midgard, or Earth,

and he took over the mantle of like,
you know,

I wanna protect this place.

I wanna be a hero to the people
of this particular world.

And it seems like a lot
of what Daniella's done here.

-She's literally building houses, right?
-[Jennifer] Yeah. [chuckles]

It's one thing to write a check,
but she's, like, digging--

She's literally digging dirt up,
building the foundation.

It's very America Chavez, you know, right?

America Chavez is from another place,
she comes here,

and she adopts this place as her own.

Also, the super strength.

Like, I just,
I literally imagine her, like,

lifting houses
and lifting these people along with it.

Our heroes are about building
a better world.

And that's what she's trying to do,
one house at a time.

I think that we've got a lot
of great material here to tell

a story about Daniella that I think
will be very, very Marvel as well.

[hammering]

It won't go in.

I feel like when you think of
what makes home homey,

you think of your bed,
or things like that.

But then I realized,
even the people who don't have a bed,

-they still have, like, a home.
-[chattering]

And it's really up to you what home is.

But I know that it's definitely not
the items inside of it.

It's the people.

[chattering]

[Daniella] Mm. So excited! Hi.

My family, like, are very different.
Like, my dad's side of the family,

they're all from Mexico,
specifically, Puebla.

And then, my mom's side of the family,

they're from all over the Middle East,
but mostly Iraqi.

-[speaks indistinctly]
-Oh, hi, Daniella.

We have quite a multi-cultural family
going on.

Lots of different languages,
lots of different foods.

[chattering]

What did you call it?

[Daniella] I like being able to learn
from my grandparents.

Middle Eastern food and Mexican food are,
like, the best ever.

So, I'm lucky.

The kids have grown up to be very,
very family-oriented.

I grew up the same way in Mexico.

[chattering]

We live in such a beautiful city,

and, you know, we take it for granted.

People just across the border
live in completely different conditions.

I try to always teach them to keep in mind

that there are always people out there
that might not have it as well as us,

and they might not have the opportunities.

The thing's frozen shut.

I think my whole life
I've noticed people are homeless.

I just feel bad
that I get to live so well,

and that other people don't get that.

They're still on the street.

They still have not the best life.

So, nothing ever felt like enough.

When I was in seventh grade,

my PE coach was talking to us
about Build A Miracle.

To build a fully furnished home
down in Mexico,

it's $16,000.

So that's with multiple rooms, beds,
an oven, a stove-- all that stuff.

So, it's a lot that you're getting
for that amount of money.

-Okay. I'm ready for my--
-Hug Daddy goodbye.

Ew.

-[chuckles]
-Ew.

[chattering]

Are you coming to my meeting?

-Today?
-At lunch.

[GG] When the school told us,

"We're gonna sponsor a home
through this nonprofit organization,"

I told all the kids,
"We're going down for this."

[Daniella] I just remember crying.

I was, like,
"Mom, I don't wanna go, like, at all."

My mind immediately thought of seeing
how sad everything was

and that feeling where I feel powerless.

But that first time
when we went to Mexico,

that's when we met the family.

That's so cute. Where's Daniella?
Did she already go up there?

One of the little girls had been
following me around the whole entire time.

We all called her Maria.

Then all of a sudden,
we were, like, best friends.

She's just so excited right away.

She'd be like, "Do you want to
color with me? Want to do this stuff?"

I'm like, "I'm trying to build a house.
You want to help us with the painting?"

And we started painting and we started
adding in furniture later on,

and immediately just my mood changed.

I was so happy, I was like,
"Look what we're doing, this is amazing."

[sobs]

That's your room, sweetheart.

-[crying]
-[chattering]

After seeing everybody
break down into tears,

I felt so powerful that we are able
to really change someone's life.

I told my mom, I said,

"Mom, I wanna do our own house.
I don't want this to be the end of it."

So then I was thinking,
"How can I raise $16,000?"

She reached out.

Daniella reached out to Build A Miracle.

And she copied me on the e-mails,

but I had nothing to do
with the communication.

And she's the one who said,
"This is what I'd like to do."

A big thing that I did
was a ton of babysitting.

And then bake sales and lemonade stands.

You wanna buy one? Okay. They're $12.

We have an inspiring teenager
making a huge difference.

[male anchor]
You are earning all of this money

doing babysitting and selling lemonade

to build homes for other families.

[female anchor] You're a busy,
busy bee doing so much.

-There you go.
-Okay.

Thank you.

So our build dates are April 7th and 27th.

And those are coming up...

My goal, initially,
was to just build one house.

But now I've been doing this for two years
and we've built six homes.

After seeing how other people struggle,

you kind of like have to refigure out
what your priorities are.

[Tess] Daniella inspired my friends

to just be more giving and just,
you know, be more thoughtful about,

like, just be more thankful
for what we have.

We're gonna work really,
really, really hard,

but I really want you guys
to come down to Mexico.

Every single time we go down,
every single family brings up the rain.

I never thought of it
as that big of a deal.

But then I think we're complaining
when we're out in the rain for 15 minutes.

Imagine sleeping in it.

It's not like they have
that many types of clothes.

It's not like they have somewhere
to protect them when it's cold.

It's not like they have blankets
to cuddle under.

They're on a dirt floor.

It's really a huge thing down there.

So every single time it rains here,

I think about the families
that don't have homes yet.

And I'm in a position
where I can help others,

and I should use that power
to do something good.

[chattering]

[man 2] Okay, everybody. Load up the bus.

-[Daniella] Hola.
-[bus driver] Hola. Hola.

I feel like the second
we start getting on the bus,

my mood just changes.

Like, I just, like, stop talking,

because I get so emotional

about how two places,
like, so close to each other

can have such different situations.

But it's also, I have hope, because
we're driving in to do something good

and we're driving in
to give people that home.

[Chris] Daniella is unique.

There's something about Daniella
that just sparks enthusiasm in others.

The people that follow her and support her

have confidence
because she's actually stuck with it

and that she's taken it to the next level
by involving more and more people.

[chattering]

[Daniella] This family is really special.
Their current home, when I think about it,

what it would be sleeping on a dirt floor

and having your parents
gone all day working,

and not being able to have food
some nights,

and not being able to have fresh water
or somewhere to have privacy.

It's really sad,
because that's exactly what I have.

[woman speaking Spanish]

[continues speaking Spanish]

[Chris] When I woke up today,
I was so fired up,

so emotional, and so um... [stammers]

I just couldn't wait for the hours to pass

until I would actually have Daniella
come and be here with us.

I see how you guys will do anything
for your family

and how you guys are so happy

and so grateful for the life you have.

And so I'm so happy that on top of that,
we also get to give you something.

Gracias.

Now we're making the cement
to pour on the pad for the house.

We use sand, rocks, cement,
and then water.

-[male volunteer] Here.
-I need a little bit more water, please.

Gracias.

[woman in Spanish]

[woman's daughter in Spanish]

[woman's husband in Spanish]

[applause]

[Chris] Oh, we have another one!
[chuckles]

"Thanks for everything." Oh, look,

he drew a picture of the old
and the new house.

[volunteers gasp]

Old and new.

I want other people to be able to
experience what being safe is,

what having clean water is.

Like, if I could,

I would switch lives with any kid there,
if I could, to give them this life.

Like, 100%.

[humming]

[playing piano]

[humming, piano continue]

♪ All alone in the world ♪

♪ Is that how you feel? ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ When you feel like you can't cry ♪

♪ You know you'll have my shoulder
To cry on ♪

♪ Know I love you, I care for you ♪

♪ But you've got to promise me ♪

♪ That you'll stay ♪

♪ Strong ♪

♪ You've gotta stay strong ♪

♪ Strong ♪

[volunteers] Surprise!

[cheering, applause]

-Gracias.
-De nada.

[chattering]

[woman in Spanish]

[female volunteer laughs]

[child speaking Spanish]

[speaking Spanish]

-[child speaking Spanish]
-[male volunteer speaking Spanish]

[chuckles]

[woman's husband in Spanish]

[Daniella] I hope families know that

they have changed our lives so much
we can't even explain it.

Our eyes have been opened up to something,
and now we're not gonna let it go.

Now we're going to do something about it.

You don't have to be a genius
to be able to do something like this.

I'm not perfect at all, not even close,

but really, as long as you have an idea,

and you have the perseverance
to keep going

and to really achieve that goal,

you can do anything.

I've seen her grow up in her depth of
understanding and her compassion.

You know, her compassion for others
is intoxicating.

[GG] Daniella's heart
has always been beautiful and golden.

The changes that I have seen are more
of a strength of her leadership qualities.

When she really believes in something,
she stands up for it.

[Daniel] We're always looking
for fulfillment in our lives,

but very few of us really find it.

She's already found it by helping others.

She sees happiness can be created
without the artificial stuff.

[Daniella] I've always thought about
doing good things,

but I never really did anything,
and that's how a lot of people are.

They have the best thoughts,
the smartest thoughts,

but they never do anything about it.

I've learned that when I think of an idea,
to just go chase after it.

I would never have thought that I'd be
able to raise money to build a house,

but I've been able to achieve
so many goals,

I feel like anything's possible.

I think we all relate to that moment
in Daniella's story where she talks about

how all of us think about helping people,
we just don't know how to do it.

We don't know what the next step is.

And here comes Daniella,
she doesn't wait for anybody.

She just figures out a plan
and executes it.

-She's got such a strength of character.
-Yep.

And I think she infuses that
in everything that she does.

Like, just this idea that the purpose
behind everything that she's doing

is the ultimate, most important thing.

And I love that.

I feel like that is what we wanted
to infuse in her story.

We took that strength of character
and made it physical strength.

So many of our superheroes have that
sort of super strength they carry around.

So, she's able to take that down
as she builds the houses.

We stayed in sort of the hues of pink,

because we know that
that's her favorite color,

gave her a cool sporty uniform.

Well, the splash image
kind of says it all, right?

It is Daniella to the core.

She's obviously helping them
by giving them a home,

but she's also literally lifting them up.

We're catching up with her soon
at her brother's school.

Yes, that's right.

Her brother Gabriel, who she has helped
to guide as well, he's getting--

He's following in her footsteps
and is fundraising himself.

We have a few things in store
for Daniella.

Right, so she's getting this award
for her philanthropy.

And she's spreading the news
of her philanthropy,

and I think on top of the award,

getting this comic,

I'm hoping it is something

that lets her see
just how important her story is

and how much it means
to all of us at Marvel.

We have another presentation.

Somebody else that wants to recognize
what's been done here: Daniella's dad.

[applause]

[audience gasps]

[Daniel]
I've got a little surprise for you.

This is actually a letter from Marvel.

"Dear Daniella,

you don't build houses
with just wood and nails.

Your homes are more than
simply walls and roof.

They're a product of love,
sacrifice and dedication.

And the team here at Marvel
wants you to know

we are amazed by what you've done.

We admire your commitment
to transforming the lives of others.

The homes you build
provide hope for a better future

and serve as an inspiration to other
young people who follow your lead.

Daniella, we believe that you embody
the characteristics of a Marvel superhero.

[audience gasps, murmurs]

Like the Falcon, Sam Wilson,

you have helped those in need.

Those who can't help themselves,

those who have nowhere else to turn.

That's why we're making you
a founding member

of an elite team of heroes just like you.

A group of remarkable young people
whose activism inspires us.

Welcome to the Marvel Hero Project."

[cheering]

"We have something special for you.

When you open this box...

you'll find a jacket
made especially for you.

[audience gasps]

It's a symbol of your status
on the Marvel team,

so wear it with pride.

To show you how much we admire
the work you do,

we're making a donation in your honor

to an organization
that helps families in need

in the amount of $10,000.

[audience cheering, applauding]

[Daniel] The mighty Marvel Bullpen
has one more surprise for you.

It's an instant hit.

[audience gasps]

It's a comic book starring you.

The Miracle Builder.

We hope you see yourself in these pages
the same way we do,

as a real-life superhero.

We're so proud to have you
as an official member of the team.

So welcome to the Marvel Hero Project.

Your friends at Marvel."

Thank you.

I saw the Marvel thing
and then I was like,

"Oh, my gosh, this is happening."

I was trying not to cry. I was like,
"Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry."

-[Daniel] That's super-human.
-[GG] To have the comic,

something she's gonna be able
to show her kids, her grandkids.

This moment
is just one of the most impactful,

I think, for our family.

It's awesome to just see
all the little details.

So, like the houses,

all the people that have helped us
that we can recognize.

[girl] I've always known Daniella
as my hero,

and now she is actually
a real superhero, part of Marvel.

[kids] Look, whoa.

-[Ava] This is so cool.
-[Alana] That's so cool.

The fact that I get to be an inspiration
for other people makes me very happy.

And I hope that people realize how much
of an impact they can have on the world

and do good things.

In my heart, I just feel happiness.