A friend of mine just stopped by with her four year old son. As the polite person that I am, I offered them both a drink. Mommy said “No thank you,” but little Jacob held his hands out. I handed the little cherub a bottle of Peppermint HINT water. He took one swing and said “AH REFRESHING.” If only I had a movie camera.

Folks, meet Harrison Ginsberg: our latest HINT Hero, who finds himself most at home in the kitchen.
 

‘‘I guess it started when I was a little kid and used to help my dad cook or barbecue on the weekends.  I don’t know, I just seem to like everything about it from the shopping for fresh ingredients to cooking and the plating and presentation.’’  I watch the Food Network all the time, I pick up a little bit here and there.”
 

After a while “Harry,” as his friends and family call him, walked into a local Italian restaurant and approached the owner. “I want to work here, you don’t have to pay me but just teach me,” Harry said.  And learn he did, so much so that he would even get a few bucks at the end of each week for doing a good job.
 

“I learned a lot there,” he said, “from cleaning, slicing, dicing and prepping to helping cook when someone in the kitchen didn’t show up one day.”
 

When the restaurant switched owners, Harry found it impossible to get a job paying or otherwise since he was only 15, so he decided to take matters in his own hands.
 

“My friend’s mom was having a pre-party for friends and family at there house before their daughters Sweet 16 and they gave me a chance.”
 

Harry designed a logo, a business plan and a menu based on their budget and preferences . . . and the little chef was in business.
 

“I went around, and got a bunch of catering menus to figure out what I should charge, sat with my dad to figure out what our profit margins would be and what I could feasibly do.  My dad was a big help, but to be honest, I made him do all the dirty work, cleaning, prepping and all.  Everything I made was fresh, the one thing I didn’t want to do is compromise on quality, it’s hard enough getting people to take you seriously at my age, so I have to go the extra mile,” Ginsberg said.
The restaurant business runs in Harry’s family, as his uncle owns the renowned Boston based chain of restaurants Legal Seafoods. “I’m a few years away from owning my own restaurant,” Harry said with a confident smile, “so for now I will cater to my clients one party at a time.”

Autism is a serious condition, one the folks here at HINT take very seriously. As supporters of finding more effective treatments for those who suffer with autism, HINT genuinely wants to help the families and children who deal with this issue on a daily basis. If you have a family member you would like us to showcase, I am more than happy to salute such heroism. You’re all HINT Heroes.