'We want to push you to do better': NYC deli manager who gives cash prizes to local kids with good grades gets $500K in funding on GoFundMe

Since 2023, Wail Alselwi has been rewarding kids who come to his New York City deli and show him proof of their good grades. The kids can receive cash prizes or pick treats out from the store.

“If you’re failing, we want to push you to do better. You don’t have to get to a 98-plus average, no. All you gotta do is just pass all your classes, improve, and then we’ll give you $100 for improvement,” Alselwi told ABC.

“From a 68 to a 94? Man, I’m proud of you, bro,” Alselwi tells one child in a video he made, included in ABC’s report. He then hands the child a $100 bill, and then the video cuts to the child loading up treats on the counter of the deli.

Alselwi told ABC that as the popularity of his program has grown, kids from all over the country have come in to show them their improving grades.

When asked in an interview with ABC News how many kids he thinks he’s helped, Alselwi replied, “Oh my god ... thousands.”

Viral sensation

On TikTok, Alselwi posts about his program under the handle @islandock1, where he’s amassed 1.1 million followers and 22 million likes.

According to a report from the Staten Island Advance, the “Grades for Grabs” program began with one student. Alselwi told Zameir Davis, who was a regular customer at the deli, that if he worked on getting better grades, he could pick anything he wanted from the deli as a reward, the Advance reported.

After Davis made the honor roll and returned to collect his reward, snacks including an Oreo milkshake and Doritos, the report says, a video of the moment took off online. Then other children began coming in to show Alselwi their good grades.

Further funding

In March 2025, he launched a GoFundMe to help support his mission to help kids, and it’s now raised more than $550,000.

“Education is the foundation of a brighter future, and every child deserves the motivation to strive for success,” the GoFundMe page says. “Many kids lack encouragement, and sometimes, all it takes is a small incentive to boost their confidence and push them toward greatness.”

Alselwi says on the GoFundMe page that he created the campaign to help continue the Grades for Grabs program, as he was funding it out of his own pocket. He adds that he’s seen kids’ grades go from averages of 60% to “percentages in the 80s and 90s.”

Alselwi also spearheaded a back-to-school supplies giveaway this summer. He created an Amazon wishlist, telling his followers that he was aiming to support 3,000 kids with school supplies, the Advance reported.

“I just threw a number out there and the next day I started getting deliveries from the wish list,” he told the Advance. “I’m telling you, I get 15 to 65 boxes a day, so that makes me want to do it more. I want to do this every single year.”