We were all in shock at the Smile Train when we received our first donation from Paul Newman.

It arrived with no fanfare, no note or letter, just a very generous check which was about 100 times bigger than our average donation.

This was such an honor because in the nonprofit world, Paul Newman was a God.

What he did with his Newman’s Own food line was so inspiring. He gave away 100% of all the world these profits from everything he sold. Altogether, Paul Newman and his foundation have given more than half a billion dollars to thousands of charities over the past 40 years. The fact that he chose our charity was an honor.

I of course immediately wrote Mr. Newman a heartfelt thank-you note, and I tried several times to meet with them like to thank him in person. But like most celebrities and billionaires, Mr. Newman was very busy, protected, guarded and impossible to reach.

So, it must’ve been fate when I took my mom to a Broadway show in New York City one night, and during the intermission outside the theater, Paul Newman and his wife ended up standing right next to us. Cool hand Luke was my mom’s favorite actor and she was so excited I thought she was going to have a stroke! We didn’t want to invade his privacy, so we didn’t say anything and just enjoyed standing next to one of the greatest actors – and philanthropists – ever.

After the intermission, my mom went to sit down, and I went to the bathroom. When I made it back to my seat, a few minutes before the show resumed, the first thing I asked my mom was, “Where is he?” She looked at me with her eyes bulging out and she couldn’t even speak. She gestured that he was sitting directly behind her.

I turned around in my seat with a big smile and said, “Mr. Newman, about these tickets tonight so my mom, Rosemary Mullaney, could meet her favorite movie star.”

Now my mom really was going to have a stroke as she turned around also, facing Mr. Newman, not knowing how he might react. Mr. Newman was incredibly gracious and smooth, “Very nice to meet you Rosemary Mullaney!” My mom couldn’t speak and almost cried as she shook hands with her idol, just as the lights went down and the curtains went up.

Paul Newman was a class act.

Because of all of his amazing accomplishments in the non-profit world, he was my hero too.