What better way again could a man convey kindness and gratitude to his alma mater? A motel owner in Burlington, Iowa, has surprised the elementary school he attended by writing a $700 check to pay overdue school lunch fees for dozens of kids.
Jerry Fenton’s donation covered 89 students and their parents at Grimes Elementary school, the same school he also attended as a child. The overdue lunch balance at the school was only $458.63 at the time of the donation, so the extra funds will go towards future balances as well, allowing his impact to help even more children.
After Fenton’s donation, parents who owed money were sent a note from the school saying their balance was cleared.
It is well documented that not eating lunch will have a negative impact on a child’s learning. However in the past years, research has indicated an increasing number of children arriving in cafeteria unable to pay for their meals. A 2012 survey of school meal programs found that 53 percent of school districts were experiencing an increase in unpaid meal charges.
One may wonder why acts of kindness are often shown on media spaces. But it will interest you to know that, this is done in a bid to inspire others too to act kindly. Same way Fenton said he was inspired to help out the school after learning about a similar story on Facebook. The story that inspired Fenton’s good deed is about Josette Duran, a mom in Albuquerque, N.M. who is more than 1,000 miles away from Fenton. Duran’s son had asked her if he could have two lunches to bring to school so he could give one to a friend. Duran soon learned that her son’s friend’s mom had recently lost her job and couldn’t afford to pay his lunch bills. Fenton wanted to take this good deed a step further.
Many of the students don’t even know that their lunch accounts are overdrawn, thanks to Fenton’s donation, students won’t have to worry about their lunch balances, and they might not ever learn why.
We have high hopes that his deed will go on to help inspire other random acts of kindness since his story has gained so much traction.
Now it’s your turn to do something good for your fellow man. Times are rough, you should be kind enough to pay bus fare for someone; at the restaurant, offset the bill of another, in whatever way you can, just pay it forward. Be inspired to be the embodiment of kindness you expect of others.