Kind Samaritan Pays Off All Overdue Lunch Fees At Hometown Elementary School

Credit: Facebook
Credit: Facebook

It’s difficult to comprehend, but an estimated 20% of kids in the United States of America live in poverty. In 2014, 13 million lived in food insecure households, meaning they weren’t sure when food would next be on the table.

For some families in the U.S. and elsewhere, school lunches are kids’ main sources of nutrition and calories. Unfortunately, when a family is unable to pay their child’s school lunch tab (-$25 is the usual limit), the children go hungry. Because this is a heartbreaking reality, a man named Jerry Fenton decided to pay some goodness forward when he returned to his hometown.

Last week, the kind samaritan visited Grimes Elementary School of Burlington, Iowa, and wrote a check for $700. That amount was enough to pay off the current $458 in lunch money debt, as well as buy lunch for a number of struggling students in the future. His compassionate gesture helped approximately 89 kids and their parents.

He wrote:

“I gave them extra money in the account so that every kid at Grimes Elementary school won’t be hungry the rest of this school year. Now it’s your turn to do something good for your fellow man.”

To make me feel proud today, I went to Burlington school Administration Office and paid the overdue student lunch…

Posted by Jerry Fenton on Tuesday, October 18, 2016

The administrative staff couldn’t have been more elated! They wrote on their Facebook page:

Wowsers! Jerry Fenton, a citizen of our community paid for all overdue lunches of all Grimes kids today! Jerry, you are our hero!”

His activism, hopefully, will inspire others to “be the change” in their own communities. What are your thoughts? Please comment below and share this news!


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