The Way We Make a Difference Ticket Donation Project Receives Press

The Way We Make a Difference - the Clay organization that donates (almost 3000 to date) tickets to special Clayfans was featured in last Friday's Omaha World Herald.

Rainbow Rowell: Special Clay fans get free tickets

BY RAINBOW ROWELL
WORLD-HERALD COLUMNIST

How excited is Paula Nelson to see Clay Aiken in concert?

Clay Aiken fans Donna Viox, left, and Paula Nelson got free tickets to his Bluffs concert tonight.
Almost as excited as when she got to see Boxcar Willie.

And that's saying a lot because Boxcar Willie is Paula's all-time favorite.

He's the only other person Paula, 43, can remember seeing in concert.

Tickets to big-name shows are just too expensive for most of the developmentally disabled adults who live in Mosaic assisted-living homes. That's why it was such a big deal for the Omaha organization to receive free tickets to tonight's Clay Aiken show at the Mid-America Center.

About 10 tickets were donated by a group of Aiken's fans, inspired by the singer's work with the disabled.

It wasn't hard to find Mosaic residents who wanted to go, spokesman Brett Samson said. "We have a lot of 'American Idol' fans."

Donna Viox, 51, watched Clay sing every week when he was on "Idol" and enjoyed all of Aiken's radio singles.

She listens to the radio while she works at one of Mosaic's educational workshops.

"I'm a very nervous person," she said, taking her headphones off for our interview. "I like soft music, relaxing music."

Donna is extremely excited, and also a little nervous, about tonight's concert. She wants to buy Clay's Christmas CD, she wants to take a photo, she wants everyone else who goes to have fun . . . .

Paula says she knows she'll have fun. The show is a Christmas concert, and Paula really, really wants to hear "Little Drummer Boy." It's her all-time favorite.

Paula loves church music, country music, polka, you name it. Music, she says, really gets her going.

"Our people are very interested in music," Samson said.

Whenever possible, Samson said, Mosaic tries to get its clients out into the community, doing the things they enjoy as individuals. People who like basketball might go to a high school basketball game. Mosaic's residents go to movies, church events, small concerts . . .

"It helps our people," he said, "but it also helps society, in general."

Debbie Hoehn couldn't agree more. She represents the Way We Make a Difference, the Aiken fan group that donated the tickets. Clay studied to be a special education teacher, and his work with the disabled has inspired his fans.

"He's kind of opened up our eyes to see that people with disabilities are just left out." The fan group has donated almost 3,000 concert tickets, so far.

* * *

Like every other Clay fan I've interviewed - and I've talked to more than my fair share - Paula and Donna say the real reason they love Clay is because he's so cute. Let's not mince words, Clay is much cuter than Boxcar Willie.

They're very excited to see Aiken and all of his cuteness in person.

"I think that the way he wears his hair sometimes," Donna said, "he can be really handsome."

"He's cute," Paula giggled when I asked her what she liked best about Clay. "And he's kind of handsome. Just a little."