President, Fair Deal Cafe, White Plains, NY

Koshy Chacko grew up among India's poorest.

His family lived hand to mouth, sheltered only by a mud hut that would literally be washed away when the rains became too heavy. Koshy, his parents and younger brother slept together on the floor, and they would hold each other tight as his father prayed aloud every night that his children might someday be blessed with easier lives. Sometimes as Koshy slept in his mother's arms, he would be awakened by her tears.

When Koshy was 16, he left home and took the bus to the city, where he lived in the streets, scavenging for food. "I learned to live without money," Koshy says now, "to live happily in the community of the helpless and hopeless."

Then China and India went to war. Many new people were needed for the army. Koshy joined up and saw his opportunity when the army offered training as a typist. He parlayed that skill into wider studies, and through long days of work and long nights of study, often with little sleep or food, into a higher education. Eventually, Koshy earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of New Delhi and became an economic consultant doing cost-benefit studies for the World Bank.

But America — and opportunity — beckoned. In 1991 Koshy brought his family to the United States and settled in White Plains, New York.

Despite his degrees, however, Koshy had trouble finding employment in his field. His money was running out and he needed to feed his family, so he walked into a local deli in White Plains, New York, and asked for a job. He mopped floors, stacked shelves, slowly advanced to working the cash register, then to managing the store. Two years later he was a part owner — and soon he decided to strike out on his own.

His dream was to create a casual restaurant where average people could get a good meal at a decent price. Now, his Fair Deal Cafe stays open every Thanksgiving and Christmas to provide a welcoming home to those with no family to spend the holidays with.

Reaching out to help others — bringing joy to the life of customers and opportunity to his workers — is what gives Koshy his reason for still working, long after success has made it possible for him to retire.

Working 16-hour days, he still finds time to help others who come to him for advice in setting up their own restaurants, and to get involved in every aspect of his community, from the Arthritis Foundation to the American Red Cross, local churches and community associations.

Most of all, Koshy feels immense gratitude for the land that gave him so much opportunity. In America, the prayers of Koshy's father for a better life for his children have finally come true.

"Thank you for this great country," he says, "which is truly an immigrant's paradise."