A Grandson Gifting His Grandparents

By: Lourdes G. Mon

 

A few years back, I came across an article about a college student who sacrificed and saved his money to do something extraordinary for his grandparents. His name is Stefun Darts.

The story was this. In 2016, Stefun Darts was a 24-year-old college student who saved his earnings for six years because he had a dream. Even when his friends called him boring and cheap, it did not matter to him. He was focused on a dream he had since he was in second grade. His dream was to pay off his grandparents’ home. So that year, he wrote out his very first check and handed it to the grandparents, Marilyn and Cecil Roberts, who took him in at a young age and raised him. It was for $15,000 to pay off their mortgage — and pay for a trip to the Bahamas.

He gladly sacrificed going out with friends, just working, saving money and staying home to reach his goal of helping his grandparents. He presented the check to his grandparents during a March 20 surprise party thrown by his family. He credited his religious faith for the ability to resist normal youth-related temptations during his late teenage and early adult years.

While handing the check to his grandparents, Stefun said, “I promised God in the second grade I would pay off you guys house and help you retire. A promise I would never break. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched… but are felt by the heart. Even with this, I could never repay you for what you’ve done for me.”

Darts has worked various jobs to save money. In high school, he worked at a grocery store, a call center, at a Pizza Hut and earned licenses to sell life insurance and real estate. He was also frugal. He rarely bought clothes and still uses the first wallet he ever owned. Mostly, he ate at home whenever possible and was teased about his diet of cheap, micro wave pizzas.

In college, Stefun worked as a material handler for Exxon and on the side, he was a loan officer. He also carried a full course load studying applied science at San Jacinto, a community college outside of Houston.

In an interview, Stefun said, “My grandparents aren’t struggling by any means but why are they living to pay bills? That’s not the way of life I want them to have. If I can do anything, with every bone in my body, I will sacrifice because I don’t know how long they have on this earth. No one is guaranteed. I will sacrifice that fun, because that fun is temporary.”

When his story went viral, Stefun received a lot of support including a year’s supply of pizza from Hungry Howie’s Pizza in Katy, Texas and $10,000 scholarship from Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation. His story caught worldwide news.

I never forgot this story, so I recently checked out what Stefun is doing now. Well, he graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) Fashion Marketing and Management, where he received full scholarship. He is currently an assistant building manager in the Greater Atlanta Area. He founded two non-profit organizations, Caring Heart Youth in 2013, a 501 C3 non-profit that is committed to helping and giving back both locally and globally. The second is Hope of Life Water Wells in 2019, which develops and improves communities by providing sustainable water sources and reducing health risks associated with contaminated water. Additionally, he spearhead and develop various charitable programs such as helping children with illnesses and feeding the homeless, overall positively impacting communities across the World.

What do we learn from Stefun’s story? A person can develop a strong, loving, generous heart and character at an early age; in Stefun’s case, as early as 7-years old. Reciprocate the goodness afforded to you. Belief in God guides you to do the right thing including making a difference in peoples’ lives, especially the needy and less fortunate.