Written by Samantha Holschbach
Though junior electronic media production major Chris DellaPace had completed his spring break mission trip to Nicaragua Sunday, March 14, one final mission remained for him: to give up his plane seat en route to Harding.
A family of three individuals desperately needed to board DellaPace’s flight as it sat at the gate of Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Tx., ready to fly to Little Rock. All three had to attend a crucial appointment in Little Rock the next morning, and only two seats were vacant until DellaPace surrendered his position.
“I turned around and said, ‘I’ll do it,'” DellaPace said. “Right at that moment, everyone started clapping ‘cause it was all, like, Harding students. They started clapping and giving me high fives — it was like I was a game show host or something, walking down the aisle, all this and that.”
According to DellaPace, the relatively small jet was composed of mostly Harding students who were reluctant to give up their seats due to classes the next day — 4 p.m. was the earliest a plane en route for Little Rock would leave the following day.
DellaPace’s sizeable schedule initially prevented him from seriously considering giving up his seat until the third request over the intercom. At that time, a $350 plane voucher was offered to a willing volunteer along with airport food vouchers and a free one-night stay in Houston’s Crowne Plaza Hotel. The plane voucher was just the ticket DellaPace needed to attend his sister’s wedding in Miami, Fla. this summer.
“Ultimately I needed to get home for my sister,” DellaPace said. “I’m in the wedding. I just wanted to be home for her wedding and not have the burden on my parents for figuring out a way to get me home financially.”
After meeting the family he assisted, DellaPace relaxed in his Crowne Plaza room, complete with an LG big screen TV, large bed and sofa. However, DellaPace spent the evening far from luxury. With only $2 in his pocket, he sought a snack machine in vain. Eventually, he resorted to eating the pizza crust left on his neighbor’s room service tray.
“I can’t believe it,” DellaPace said. “I was all alone in Houston and eating someone else’s pizza crust.”
Nevertheless, DellaPace said he is happy to have helped a family in need and gained a much-needed plane ticket in the process.
