An Act of Kindness

[PegLeg45]

You don't see this often these days among adults.....much less teens. A commendable young man indeed, and a story I felt was worth sharing.

Student splits 40K in winnings among runners-up

The event - a foul-shooting contest for top academic students at Compton High School in Los Angeles - was created with a simple premise: Organizers wanted to show the kids at Compton how to create community spirit with college scholarship money as the incentive.

Following a tear-jerking gesture from the winner - it appears the true lessons learned were by the adults.

The kids in Compton are more than alright.

Three months after winning the $40,000 top prize, Allan Guei donated all of his winnings to the seven other finalists.

Guei, a star player on the basketball team who is headed to Cal-State Northridge on a full scholarship, said he felt the others could use the college cash more than he could. He wanted to give his classmates a chance to make their academic dreams come true, too.

"I've already been blessed so much and I know we're living with a bad economy, so I know this money can really help my classmates," he said in a release from the school. "It was the right decision."

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Guei would have been allowed to keep the money under NCAA rules. The other finalists, who will receive roughly $5,500, are thankful that he will not.

Donald Dotson, who also plans to attend Cal-State Northridge, said Guei is "a very deep, intelligent, and warm person."

Dotson figures his gesture will pay forward.

"He's going to go really far in life," he said. "Because of what he's done for us, God will bless him. That's what life is all about; stepping forward to help other people."

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1237085

[ellis4538]

I'll say he shouldn't have been able to compete in the first place but someone else would have won and kept it all!  This way many benefit.  Wonderful young man.  Would be proud to have him as a son or SIL.

Richard

[PegLeg45]

Richard, I had also thought the same thing, with him being an all-star player, and the promoter evidently had considered it too.
I guess like you said it worked out for the best.



FTA:

The only requirement for the contest is that the students must have a GPA of 3.0 and above. After receiving nearly 100 applicants, eight contestants were chosen at random. The contest was held in March.

"My hope was that what started as a competition would become a collaboration with the kids supporting each other," Crandall told the L.A. Times. "They did, but in the end they did that to a much greater extent than I ever could have anticipated."

The students were filmed throughout the ordeal as part of a documentary that is scheduled to be released this fall.

One of the final scenes figures to be Compton principal Jesse Jones making the surprise announcement at the school's graduation in June.

"Allan is a great basketball player, but he is a better citizen than a basketball player," Jones said. "It's truly a blessing."

Even though Guei was a basketball star, Crandall allowed him to enter the contest to reward him for his academic efforts.