Mystery Couple Pays $485 Restaurant Bill for Autistic Students and Their Teachers (VIDEO)
When 21 teachers, paraprofessionals and speech therapists, along with 25 students, dined at Jose Tejas restaurant in Woodbridge, New Jersey to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, they received a wonderful surprise. Their bill, which totaled $485, had been paid by an anonymous couple who wanted to give something back to educators on Teacher Appreciation Day.
"The manager came up to us and said, 'I just want to let you know that a fellow patron wants to pay your bill.' We were speechless," teacher Jeannette Gruskowski told NBC New York. "We were all crying."
As it turned out, the couple, still anonymous, had told the restaurant manager that they wanted to do something nice for the teachers and the children because they had a grandchild with special needs. The students, wanting to do something to show their appreciation, made a huge card for the couple and posted it in the restaurant, hoping they will see it.
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"There are no words to express how touched and grateful we are to you," the card said. "Your act of generosity will be embedded in our hearts."
Principal Robert Patten was amazed by the story and grateful to the couple who did something so special and meaningful for the teachers and students.
"They wanted to do something nice for the children, which was so touching," Patten said. "It was nice to realize that people do such nice things, especially for kids who deserve to have nice things done for them."
The school said that thanks to the couple paying the $485 tab, the students and teachers can now afford to go on another trip or perhaps have an end-of-the-year party.
"We need more people like this," Jamie posted on Austism Speaks' website, "that realize children with Autism and other developmental disabilities should be treated like everyone else, at the core, we are all people and we all deserve to be treated with respect no matter what."
Watch a video of the inspirational story here:
