Mom Pays Off Every Student's Balance Following Son's Denial of School Lunch [View all]

[joeybee12]

When Amanda Keown got a call at work from her son last week, the news she received made her furious. Dominic Gant, a junior at Dowagiac Union High School in Michigan, told his mother that he had not received his hot lunch that day because of an outstanding balance. But instead of just fixing her son’s situation, she decided to help the rest of the students dealing with the same situation.

Keown, a single mother who holds two jobs to support her family, didn’t realize there were insufficient funds in Dominic’s account (a total of $4.95 was owed on his tab). Though he offered to pay $2 of the $2.45 tab that day with the money he had on him and then bring the remainder in the next day, his offer was turned down and his lunch was thrown in the trash by a school official. Not only was the 16-year-old humiliated in front of his peers by the very public incident, his name was also posted, along with lots of other students, on a list in the cafeteria naming those with delinquent expenses for everyone to see. "I was very angry to the point I was sick to my stomach," Keown tells Yahoo Shine.

Upset that Dominic went the day without eating based on an outstanding bill totaling to less than $5, Keown immediately rectified the situation. She paid the balance and full bill but, concerned about others like her son, offered to settle all the other kid’s late fees, writing a check that included an additional $200 to be divided between the 19 teenagers named. But she knows there are more children to help, so she didn’t stop there. “I kept picturing the elementary kids and what they have to be thinking going through the same thing,” she says. Keown aired her grievances on Facebook and friends and acquaintances sounded off with corresponding stories. Then, she posted a petition to Care2.com to bring more attention to the issue.

Mark Daniel, the superintendent of Dowagiac Schools, explains that there are current policies in place throughout the district to avoid instances such as these, especially for the younger students. If someone doesn’t have enough money to pay for a meal then they’re instructed to talk to an administrator on duty, who in most cases will arrange to get them a lunch. “It would be a very rare situation for a student not to receive their lunch,” he tells Yahoo Shine. But, Daniel adds, he is very grateful to Keown for bringing this circumstance to his attention and for her donation. “We were doing some things that probably needed to be corrected and I personally want to make sure that we’re consistent throughout the district.”

https://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/mom-pays-off-every-student-s-balance-following-son-s-denial-of-school-lunch--184851942.html