When a kid named Zameir Davis ran into Staten Island deli owner Wail Alselwi’s store and showed him his report card, something shifted. Not just for that kid, but for an entire neighborhood of students who needed someone to believe that their effort mattered.
Wail made a promise: If you get a 90% average and make honor roll, you can have anything from the store.
Simple offer. Clear terms. Not a handout, but a deal: you work hard, you achieve something difficult, and I’ll reward that achievement. Anything from the store. Your choice.
Zameir worked hard all year. Came home from school and studied when other kids were playing. Pushed through subjects that were difficult. Kept his eye on that 90% average and honor roll because someone had promised him it would mean something. And when he achieved it, he ran back to that store shouting: I told you I was going to do it!
The emotional moment was captured on video and went viral. Not because it was dramatic or unusual, but because it was real. Because you could see in Zameir’s face that this mattered. That Wail’s promise had given him a reason to push harder than he might have otherwise. That achievement feels different when someone you respect tells you it’s worth celebrating.
The video inspired other neighborhood kids to show Wail their report cards too. Suddenly it wasn’t just one kid trying to earn anything from the store—it was dozens. Students bringing their grades, their effort, their improvement to show this deli owner who’d decided their academic success was worth investing in.
And as the movement grew, a GoFundMe was raised—over $330,000 to support “Grades for Grabs.” The program gives $100 to students hitting 90+ and to those improving from failing to passing. Because Wail understands something essential: it’s not about perfection. It’s about progress.
Students who go from failing to passing are working just as hard—maybe harder—than students who maintain honor roll. They’re climbing out of holes. They’re rebuilding confidence. They’re proving to themselves that change is possible. And that deserves recognition too.
Wail explains: It’s not about perfection. It’s about progress. That’s the philosophy that makes this work. Because if you only reward the kids who are already succeeding, you miss the kids who need encouragement most. You miss the students who think they can’t improve, who’ve been told they’re not smart enough, who’ve given up because no one’s celebrating their effort even when it doesn’t result in perfect grades.
But Wail sees them. Celebrates them. Gives them $100 and tells them: what you did matters. The fact that you went from failing to passing is huge. Keep going.
Zameir worked hard all year because someone made a promise and kept it. That’s what kids need. Not vague encouragement or empty praise, but specific goals and real rewards. Not participation trophies, but earned recognition. Not “good job” for showing up, but “you did it” when they actually accomplish something difficult.
The emotional moment captured on video shows Zameir’s joy. But it also shows Wail’s—this deli owner who made a promise to one kid and ended up starting a movement that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to reward students throughout the neighborhood.
He didn’t have to do any of this. Could have just run his deli, sold his products, minded his own business. But he saw Zameir’s report card and recognized an opportunity: to give this kid a reason to work hard. To show him that someone noticed. That achievement outside your family matters to people in your community. That a deli owner who doesn’t know you that well still cares enough about your education to make it worth something tangible.
And it worked. Zameir achieved it. Other kids followed. The community rallied. A GoFundMe raised over $330,000 because people saw what Wail was doing and wanted to be part of it. Wanted to support a program that recognizes both excellence and improvement. That celebrates the honor roll student and the kid who finally passed after struggling. That understands progress comes in many forms and all of them deserve recognition.
It’s not about perfection. It’s about progress. That’s the message students need to hear. Because perfection is discouraging. Perfection makes kids give up when they realize they can’t achieve it. But progress? Progress is possible. Progress is something everyone can do, regardless of where they’re starting from.
Wail Alselwi runs a deli on Staten Island. But what he really runs is a belief system: that kids’ hard work matters. That academic achievement deserves celebration. That promises made should be promises kept. That if you tell a kid “work hard and I’ll reward you,” you better be ready to deliver when they show up with their report card and say “I told you I was going to do it.”
Three hundred thirty thousand dollars raised. Hundreds of students rewarded. One deli owner who decided that education mattered enough to invest in. And one kid named Zameir who started it all by running into a store with his report card and a promise to earn.