"To have someone step in at that moment and say, 'hey, we see you. We like what you're doing.' It was tremendous validation for us, We really appreciated having them here," Simms, who is executive director, said.
He was talking about Scott and Alexa Jacobs.
Scott Jacobs is a successful artist who grew up in Westfield, New Jersey and now lives a very comfortable lifestyle in southern California. The father-daughter team signed up for ABC's Secret Millionaires and headed to Newark looking to give out thousands of dollars of their own money to deserving organizations.
"If 100 percent of the 1 percent did what we did, it would be an amazing world, an incredible place," Jacobs said.
They were instantly drawn to Glassroots, a place where kids in the area learn the craft.
"It's really good. It builds self esteem, keeps you calm and focused," intern Jasmine Garnett said.
Last July, Scott and Alexa told Wesley a little white lie; that they were volunteers, wanting to shoot a documentary about their experience.
"It was a little unusual, a little bizarre and it was a little tough," Simms said.
He reluctantly agreed. After 2 and a half days, Scott and Alexa finally came clean. Scott handed over a check.
"If you donate money to help charities, many times you probably never get to meet the people who you will help, but this time, we saw their faces, touched them. It was amazing," Jacobs said.
It would normally cost a student between 40 and 60 dollars to take part in a 2 hours program here, but because of donations, like the one they just got, they only pay about 7.
"For the past several years, we've been losing money and his check came in and got us over the roughest part of our year," Sims said.
For more information about the organization, please visit www.glassroots.org
---
