CALEDONIA - Kam Buhler says it's the most expensive ice cream she ever bought.

In 2002, she met a young man from the Czech Republic while he was driving an ice cream truck around the Franksville area of Caledonia.

Fast forward to November of this year, when that same young man called Buhler while she was grocery shopping at Piggly Wiggly.

"Kam, I passed the New York Bar."

"Petr, now don't do that to me; you are kidding."

But he wasn't - Petr Hudec had passed one of the toughest bar exams in the country.

And Buhler helped make it possible.

Living her dream

The story of the Czech man who met a Chinese-born American woman is unlikely, Buhler said. But below the surface it's quite simple.

"It's about giving," she said.

Buhler and Hudec met while he was spending the summer here before his next semester of law school in the Czech Republic.

"Kam was one of the few people I met in Wisconsin who happened to know my country," the 27-year-old said in an e-mail. They struck up a correspondence.

Over the next few years she encouraged his accomplishments, helping him get set up when he got a scholarship to Helsinki, Finland, e-mailing him during his studies to tell him to focus, that he could do it.

"I tried to make it less lonely for him," Buhler said. "I say, 'You live my dream.' "

The spring before passing the bar exam, Hudec had graduated with honors from the Northwestern University School of Law, where Buhler had helped him pay for tuition.

At graduation, Hudec gave Buhler the yellow tassel from his cap.

Lending a hand

Buhler was never able to pursue higher education. The daughter of a single mother in China, she started working when she was 13.

"Summertime in Hong Kong is really hot, and food can get spoiled," Buhler said. "My dream was to get a refrigerator."

A typical day for Buhler began at 9 a.m. with her full-time job as a secretary for a garment factory that made jeans for the United States. Then she went to her tutoring job until 8:30 p.m., and would travel to be a typist for an Irish missionary until 11 p.m.

"Day in, day out, and save my money," Buhler said. "I have very minimal education, and when it's time to work, you work; you have no choice."

When she came to the U.S. in her 20s on a business trip for the garment factory, she met her husband, Racine native Bill Buhler, general manager at Butter Buds, a food ingredient company. And she stayed here.

"Now I am very thankful that I have the opportunity to step up to the plate and give a hand to other people," she said.

The next person in line

The people she's helped are thankful as well. Hudec now plans to work as a lawyer in Central Europe, and take the Czech bar exam.

"Kam's support has been very extraordinary and meant a lot to me," Hudec said. "I feel very grateful for the support and hope that I will be able to help other people in a similar way, whenever there is a good opportunity."

Hudec hasn't been the only person touched by Buhler's generosity. Ion Gira, 23, from the country of Moldova, is currently studying at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside for his business degree. Buhler gave him a scholarship to help pay for tuition.

"Compared to my college from Moldova, it's unbelievable. It's a high level of knowledge; the professors are more experienced from real life," Gira said. "Without Kam I think it was not possible for me to pursue here."

Among her various contributions, Buhler sponsors Ukrainian orphans, is helping another Parkside student with tuition and hosts foreign exchange students.

"I'm not wealthy but I am situated," Buhler said. "If I can make a difference in someone's life, I'll do it. And if he shows me that he has ambition and is hard-working, you want to lend a helping hand to that person."

Hudec was the first person she was inspired to help this way. He never asked for her help, Buhler said - and she does not want anything in return.

"I say, if someday you make it, great. Help the next person in line," Buhler said.

"That's my reward."