UPS is a company of problem solvers. Their 2015 holiday campaign, “Wishes Delivered, sought to find other problem solvers in their local communities and grant their wishes for good. This is the story of one of them: Mr. Robert James Brown.

Thirty years ago on a business trip, Mr. Brown saw that students in Soweto, South Africa didn’t have books in their schools. He wondered: How can they learn? So he started a nonprofit that collects unwanted books and delivers them across Africa. But after all this time, Mr. Brown needed help. The warehouse was overflowing and it was too expensive to ship the books. 50 UPS volunteers solved many of his problems by optimizing his space, installing racks — even delivering a new forklift. Granting Mr. Brown’s wish meant that millions of students would gain access to the books they need for the education they so desperately want.

This was the second year UPS ran their holiday campaign “Wishes Delivered.” We searched through hundreds of “wishes” submitted online. But then we heard about an obscure nonprofit that was sending donated books to the children of Africa. Its founder: a man named Mr. Robert James Brown, a problem solver who has touched millions of lives.

We traveled to North Carolina to meet him and learn more about his work. He welcomed us into his home and we quickly learned he had played a huge role in our country’s history — advising business and government leaders on race relations and civil equality. Presidents and CEOs called on him for counsel, and countless students counted him as a mentor.

He is the most famous man few of ever heard of. We decided to help Mr. Brown so that he could continue to help people around the world for years to come.