I’ve known Alex for four years. He is 24 years old, has cerebral palsy, and is one of our women’s Club food delivery recipients. Each time I deliver food, we spend an hour or so talking.
“If you could go anywhere in the world,” I asked him several times, “where would you go?” His answer was always the same: St. Petersburg, Russia.
Last year he graduated from university with honors. For his extraordinary achievement he received plane tickets for two to St. Petersburg—a gift from a family that had heard about him through the food delivery program.
Alex was beside himself with happiness—so much so that he couldn’t sleep at night. Neither could his mother, who worried about where the money for all of the other trip expenses would come from. Four days in St. Petersburg could cost as much as several months at home, and she didn’t have that kind of savings.
They were looking into shared accommodation possibilities when the manager of the St. Petersburg Marriott Hotel heard about Alex and offered them a complimentary room for their entire stay, breakfast included, as well as transfers to and from the airport. A director at my husband’s company organized and paid for a private tour of the city, as well as visits to the Hermitage Museum, one of the finest art museums in the world, and Peterhoff, the summer palace of Peter the Great. Memories for a lifetime! People are good.
People want to do good. If a few individuals who didn’t even know each other could make such a difference to Alex, how much more can we do when we unite with the clear purpose of making a difference and influencing lives for the better?