Mario Vieira is a firefighter and a father. But there's nothing ordinary about this life. He and his wife live in a three-bedroom home, in a nice enough neighborhood. She stays home with the kids, while he goes to work. Still, there's something special about Vieira: his big heart. Vieira and his wife had 22 kids living with them at one point, only three of which are their biological children.
While they are down to 13 kids — three birth children, five adopted kids, and five kids they have guardianship of, they have no plans to stop. Many of the children Vieira found on the job. When he saw the kids had no one to turn to, he stepped in. There are not really many people who have Vieira's attitude about helping others. He even calls himself a "sucker."
"We wish we could take more. And my wife, she's not done. She has a husband who's a sucker. We say yes. We don't know how to say no a lot," he shared. "We're not rich materially, but we have enough."
Vieira's philopsphy is to simply help the children who need it, as often as he can, no matter who they are or where they come from. He hopes that, in turn, those kids will learn to be compassionate, caring, and do the same.
"Black and white and brown, they're all the same, and they treat each other the same," Vieira said, "It's between me and God. There's no money involved. It's a good feeling doing the right thing. It's not always easy being the biggest family around."
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