{"id":338971,"date":"2026-09-05T19:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T19:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/338971\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T19:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T19:50:10","slug":"staten-island-deli-rewards-students-with-cash-for-good-report-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/338971\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island deli rewards students with cash for good report cards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

A Staten Island<\/a> deli owner is turning good grades into cash and free snacks, rewarding local kids for strong report cards and academic progress.<\/p>\n

Zack’s Finest Deli & Grocery co-owner and manager Wail Alselwi, widely known by his nickname “Island Ock,” said his “Grades for Grabs” initiative evolved from a simple bet with one local student.<\/p>\n

“It started with one report card, one kid and one milkshake. Just like that. I had a bet with a kid named Zameir Davis that if he had good grades, he can get to grab whatever he wanted,” Alselwi said Saturday on “Fox & Friends Weekend.”<\/a><\/p>\n

DETROIT SCHOOLS OFFER STUDENTS UP TO $1,000 FOR PERFECT ATTENDANCE AS PROGRAM EXPANDS<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Wail <\/p>\n

Zack\u2019s Finest Deli & Grocery co-owner and manager Wail Alselwi appears on “Fox & Friends Weekend” to discuss his “Grades for Grabs” initiative, which rewards students for strong report cards and academic progress. (Screenshot\/”Fox & Friends Weekend”)<\/p>\n

“Now it’s a big movement. Now thousands of kids come into Zack’s Finest Deli to show me their report card,” he said.<\/p>\n

Students with high marks can walk out with up to $100 in cash, along with snacks and school supplies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over the past three years, the program has gained attention on social media, with some videos drawing millions of views.<\/p>\n

FLORIDA POLICE DEPARTMENT GOES VIRAL WITH GENIUS STRATEGY TO CONNECT WITH COMMUNITY<\/a><\/p>\n

Clips posted online highlight young people’s academic accomplishments and show students and their parents talking about what the program means to them. Supporters across the country have also contributed money through a GoFundMe to help keep the program going.<\/p>\n

\"Teenager <\/p>\n

Zack\u2019s Finest Deli & Grocery’s “Grades for Grabs” initiative rewards students for strong grades and academic progress with cash, snacks and other items from the store. (Vergani_Fotografia\/iStock)<\/p>\n

“Man, I want to take the program [to] the next level. Like, I [want to] take it into every city in [the] United States, not just to keep it here in New York,” Alselwi said.<\/p>\n

WHO IS RAISING AMERICA’S CHILDREN? MENTOR WARNS KIDS ARE SEEKING ROLE MODELS ONLINE AS COMMUNITIES FADE<\/a><\/p>\n

“Their parents want them to participate in this program. They believe in it. [They\u2019re] bringing them from different states. Even Canada,” he added.<\/p>\n

The GoFundMe for the initiative has raised more than $575,000 toward its $650,000 goal.<\/p>\n

Alselwi said he started the program during a dark time in his life and credited his brother with motivating him.<\/p>\n

\"Father <\/p>\n

Zack\u2019s Finest Deli & Grocery’s “Grades for Grabs” initiative rewards students for academic achievement with cash, snacks and school supplies. (Jacob Wackerhausen\/iStock)<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

“Because at a time in my life, I was really down. And my brother motivated me to get back up,” Alselwi said.<\/p>\n

Madison Colombo is a writer for Fox News Digital\u2019s Flash, Media, and Culture team, covering daily breaking news and trending topics with an award-winning background in broadcast and digital journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A Staten Island deli owner is turning good grades into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[113974,4202,2388,9,24,63,9460,134,136,135,8946],"class_list":["post-338971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-fox-friends-weekend","tag-fox-news-flash","tag-fox-news-media","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-parents","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news","tag-trending-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}