The dreams of loved ones are worth fulfilling, even if it requires a lot of effort. Philadelphia teacher Dustin Vital sold a thousand cheesesteaks in six weeks to take her mother dying of cancer to Egypt — a woman dreamed of seeing the mysterious pyramids since childhood.
A year ago, Gloria Walker, a Philadelphia resident of the United States, learned that she had the last stage of bladder cancer. Since childhood, she dreamed of visiting Egypt, and when her son Dustin Vital asked what desire she would like to have time to fulfill before the end of her life, Gloria answered without a doubt: «To see the Egyptian pyramids.»
“Mom dreamed about it when she was a little girl. But she did not want to travel only with her husband, Ton. She wanted to go to Egypt with the whole family,” said Dustin.
Vital works as a middle school teacher, and his salary would not be enough to pay for the trip of 14 relatives. Therefore, he decided to earn the necessary amount by selling cheesesteaks (sandwiches stuffed with chopped steak mixed with grated cheese).
Dustin announced his idea on social networks — friends, relatives and students helped the man quickly spread the post on Instagram (an extremist organization banned in Russia).
Soon, people who wanted to help began to subscribe to it, and queues of cheesesteak lovers lined up near the house. “I didn’t know how long the hype would last, so I just decided to keep posting on social media about my activities and see what happens,” he said. “I sold 94 cheesesteaks on the first day and was blown away.”
Demand for a tasty dish continued to grow, and Dustin could no longer cope with the load. Luckily, a local van driver offered the service. He not only helped with the delivery of products, but also allowed the use of his portable kitchen.
After that, sales increased even more. As a result, in just six weeks, Vital collected all the money necessary for the trip — more than $ 18.000. His cheesesteaks even won the heart of Philadelphia chef Michael Solomonov, who took to Instagram (an extremist organization banned in Russia) to try the dish and «give it a five.»
Nevertheless, Vital said that he was not going to quit his job as a teacher for the sake of selling cheesesteaks. “Many people ask if I’m going to open my own cafe, but I could never do it. I like it as a hobby, but my heart is with the students. Teaching is my passion,” he explained. At the same time, Dustin assures that he is ready for anything for his mother. “If she asked me to fly to the moon, then I would have done that too,” the man said.
A family trip to Egypt is planned for the coming months. Vital’s mother Gloria says she has never felt as good as she does now. “This love is limitless, it feeds me,” she emphasizes.