Taking charity can be extremely hard for proud people. I know this from personal experience. I've had financial hardship in my life, though nothing as serious as this family, and I have had friends offer me $100 here or $200 there. I've given away amounts like that when the tables were turned, but accepting it is a hell of a lot harder than giving it.
The winning bidders sound like really nice people. They probably give charitable donations to various causes and want to make these other people their benefactors right now. I would have a hard time accepting $$ from anyone outside my immediate family, no matter how rich my friends are. It is their $$, not mine. One of my buddies gave me a few dollars once when I was hurting and would not take "no" for an answer. He said, "I've been hitting home runs lately, D, take it..."
