Celebrity News

Student selling letter from Obama to pay for tuition

A formerly homeless student who wrote a letter to President Obama to share his story and get some advice is selling a handwritten response to pay off his tuition.

Jesse Grainger wrote, “As a child I had big dreams of going to college and doing great things . . . I came from a small town where most people were poor, especially my mother and me. My mom adopted me when I was one day old. She raised me to believe that education was the most important thing that I could ever get. My adopted mom died when I was 13.”

Moments in Time
Grainger details how he was lost in child services and, “The day I turned 17 I walked out . . . with a book bag, a few outfits, and my mom’s Bible to set out on a journey that has forever changed my life.”

He was ultimately taken in by a family in South Carolina while attending junior college and admitted to Winthrop University for a degree in social work.

But Grainger wrote, “I do not know how I am going to pay for it,” even after taking out $10,000 in loans.

Obama wrote back in 2011: “Thanks for your letter and your inspirational story. The best advice I can give you right now is finish your education.”

Three years later, Grainger’s selling the response for $9,500 through Moments in Time to use for tuition.

Obama adds some career advice about working with the homeless, and ends, “I’m proud of you. Stay determined!”