And in lighter news, last week we brought you the story of 17-year-old Dennis Gladden whose life got off to a rocky start when he lost both his parents at 1-year-old. Raised by his grandparents in gang territory, he took the road less travelled and became the salutatorian at Wesley. His only goal was to go to university, but he worried he wouldn't have the funds to do so.
Well, since the story aired, Gladden has received an outpouring of support. While he still hasn't gotten concrete word on his scholarship as yet, he is one step closer to furthering his education today after he received a laptop. The donation took place at Fultec Systems and Courtney Menzies was there. Here's that story.
17-year-old Dennis Gladden wowed the country - and those abroad - when his story went viral. Orphaned as an infant and growing up in a gang infested area, he made his way up to the top of his graduation class. And he did it all on a single cellphone - even during the past year of online classes.
And while Gladden looks ahead to university, he won't have to depend on the cellphone anymore. That's because today, through a collaborative effort between Orson "OJ" Elrington and Fultec, he received a laptop and a printer. Additionally, he received a grant from Elrington.
Today, he told us how he felt being gifted with an essential tool to further his education.
Dennis Gladden, Salutatorian, Wesley College
"I feel super excited, the grant and the laptop will come a long way. For example my tuition fee or for the online classes I will have. I'm very thankful and I just want to tell the young people out there that you do have people who care about you and it's how you carry yourself. I was a humble youth ever since I lost my parents and I stayed with my grandmother and she motivated me to be the person I am today and I'm thankful."
Elrington explained that the grant is something he does often, and just when he thought he wouldn't find a candidate, he saw Gladden's story.
Orson "OJ" Elrington, Attorney
"On a yearly basis, I try to do an education grant normally for the student athlete from my Alma Mater Wesley College. This year, because there was no sports, I kept trying to contact the official at Wesley College to see how it will be best to apply for a grant. Luckily I saw a wonderful story done by you and I was very excited to try to offer that grant to my good good friend and fellow alum now and so I reached out to you, was able to contact you, and I reached out to a couple friends, one of which was the owner here at Fultec who also is an alum at Wesley College and she without hesitation said that she was willing to provide a laptop so that he can further his education."
And while Fultec provided the laptop for Gladden, they didn't do it for the publicity. The low key donation was because they too were touched by his story.
Patricia Vansen, Senior Sales Rep, Fultec Systems
"We were privy to see the interview that you did and it aired and so when Orson reached out to us, we did not hesitate to collaborate with him upon the donation of the laptop. I think the part that stood out to us more was the fact that Mr Gladden had to use his cellphone to do just about all of his assignments and so
forth and he was able to do so efficiently as well so we decide on doing the donation for the laptop because we know that will help him in providing better work. It's amazing because a lot of time people take the little things for granted and there's a lot of people out here who can benefit from stuff like this and we were so thankful that Orson reached out to us and we were able to participate in this donation."
And Gladden told us that he has received a number of encouraging calls and texts, but that his focus is now on getting the funds to go to UB.
Dennis Gladden, Salutatorian, Wesley College
"There are a lot of people who have reached out to me and I have a lot of names."
"Those persons that I just mentioned did a variety of things for me. They give me a trip to go somewhere, they gave me some advice whether I want to call them, just contact them and the will help me with my education if I need that extra tutoring that I may need in the future."
"Starting at UB I will do natural resources and that requires two years as an associate and that's the future and I'm more looking right now in the present where I can get help to finish that associate."
"I feel great because there's a lot of emotions running through my mind, I'm not that type of person who looks at a phone and I'm not that person who runs behind others to buy that for me, I always wait and be humble when I can afford those things and now I don't have to worry. That came through because of my hard work and just wanna tell people out there that you have good people in Belize and across the world."
We're told he is being considered for a scholarship to UB.
