Philadelphia teacher sells thousands of cheesesteaks to take mom on trip of a lifetime
To take his mom on the vacation of her dreams, Dustin Vitale needed to raise $10,000 in order to fly all 14 of his immediate family members to Egypt, and the Philadelphia middle school teacher came up with an idea that would make his hometown proud.
Last year, Dustin's mother, Gloria, was diagnosed with terminal bladder cancer. Dustin knew how much she wanted to see the pyramids, and figured if he could make cheesesteaks and sell them to friends and family, he'd raise enough money to get his mother and their family to Egypt. His mom provided her tried and true recipe, and Dustin got to work whipping up cheesesteaks and fries.
It wasn't long before word spread about Dustin's delicious cheesesteaks and the reason behind his new venture, and people soon lined up outside his house to pick up an order. When a food truck operator learned that Dustin was doing all of this from his home kitchen, he offered his services. After six weeks, Dustin raised $18,000.
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Their trip is planned for later this year, and Gloria told CBS News that the love being shown to her is "overwhelming." For Dustin, it didn't matter where his mother wanted to go — he would take her anywhere. "If she would have asked to go to the moon, I would have made that happen as well," he said. Catherine Garcia
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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