Isaac's Story

For Hallie and Ashton's annual hot chocolate stand

I met Isaac last year at the Webb family Christmas party. My uncle Chad brought him along as he has no family around and would be alone at Christmas. Isaac was working at an internship at the time with my uncle in the Church Office Building. I instantly fell in love with him. He had a warm smile, a happy personality and so much humility. Isaac grew up in Cape Coast Ghana and came to the states to serve his mission. He decided to stay stateside instead of returning home after his mission so that he could earn a college degree here. He has to earn his way entirely, so even though he has been here for 3.5 years since his mission, he has only just earned his associate degree from LDSBC. He doesn't have a cell phone (we asked him if he thought Americans were too materialistic with all our phones and wireless whatevers, he just smiled) and he gets by on the bare minimum. He is working now to earn money to be able to go to BYU so that he can get his BS and then his Master's Degree. He plans on returning to Ghana after his education to help businesses in Ghana streamline, maximize and increase productivity while increasing their profit margins (essentially, he wants to help his country's businesses help themselves). As we continued to talk to Isaac, we asked him about his family and he told us how much he missed them. He hasn't seen them in 5.5 years (and with having to scrape for school, it's likely that he won't see them for another 5+ years). He told us the best Christmas present he could ever receive would be to go home for the holidays to see his family. That was it for me, I knew we had to help him! I talked to my uncle to see if we could send him home this year, but his travel days would be very limited with work. A plane ticket to Ghana also costs about twice as much if you book it two weeks out as opposed to 3 or 4 months out, so we decided we would send him home next year, when he can be home longer.

The Webb's, Hallie and Ashton and their hot chocolate stand, and now the Morris family are all going to pull together to raise the money to send Isaac home, and to help him pay for school.

I can't tell you how excited I am to help this deserving young man. There is nothing more that I love than to help people who are good and who are trying to make a difference. He will be so so excited, and so very grateful. Thanks everyone for all your help!!