Thanks to one generous donation, 89 students and their __parents no longer have to worry about their overdue lunch balances.
Jerry Fenton, owner of the Arrowhead Motel, donated about $700 to Grimes Elementary School in Burlington, Iowa, the same school he attended as a child.
“I find it hard to believe that in this day and age there are kids that go hungry, it’s just unfathomable in this day and age,” he told WQAD.
The overdue lunch balance was $458.63 at the time of the donation, so the extra funds will go towards future balances as well.
He shared his good deed on his Facebook page about a week ago, and has received 2.4K likes, over 600 shares, and almost 200 comments. But he didn’t do it to attract attention. “It struck me as something nice to do. I didn’t do it for any reason other than for myself,” he told The Des Moines Register.
Fenton received overwhelmingly positive comments on the post supporting his good deed:
“How awesome! Thank you so much for your kindness. No kid should have to stress about their school lunch account. Unfortunately though it happens daily!” wrote John Jaimee Sparrow.
“Always knew you had it in you. Keep paying it forward. Others may not catch on, but you will always feel love in your heart!!” Cindy K. DiPrima commented.
Fenton said that he was inspired to help out the school when he saw a Facebook post about a young boy who asked his mom for two lunches so he could give one to his friend, whose single mom had lost her job.
These kinds of donations are “extremely rare,” Alan Mehaffy, food service director for the school district, told The Des Moines Register.
Many of the students don’t even know that their lunch accounts are overdrawn, Mehaffy explained. The __parents receive a letter directly from the school, which can definitely cause tension at home. But thanks to Fenton’s donation, students won’t have to worry about their lunch balances, and they might not ever learn why.
“Now it’s your turn to do something good for your fellow man,” Fenton wrote. And we couldn’t agree more.
h/t: WQAD