In 1994, Alex Dovales was drifting toward Miami on a rickety boat with twenty-seven other Cubans. Two years later, Dovales saw fourteen exhausted, penniless Cuban rafters wash ashore on Key Largo and "felt like I had just arrived here myself."

The 25-year-old dishwasher, who clears $197 per week, walked home and gathered all the presents from under his Christmas tree. He gave the shirts and other clothing to the new arrivals.

"They were wet and cold," explained Henry Paez, Dovales's roommate. "Alex took off his shirt and gave it to them."