A Texas man is being deemed the "Lunch Angel" after funding over 60 overdue lunch bills for students at Valley Oaks Elementary School in Houston, Texas, NBC's "Today" reported.
Kenny Thompson, a tutor and mentor at Valley Oaks Elementary School for over 10 years, choose to pay off students' overdue balances, after finding out that they were stuck eating cold lunches, because of their negative accounts.
Thompson, 52, told "Today" that he felt "blessed" to have provided so many kids with a way to eat a healthy, hot lunch instead of just cold sandwiches. Some students were only eating cheese sandwiches, while others were simply skipping lunch.
"Today" reported that Thompson paid a total of $465 to cover all of the students' lunches.
"It was the best money I ever spent," Thompson said. "It was the best gift I ever gave myself. I went into my car and screamed."
The school tutor said he did not want to see a repeat of the Utah elementary school incident, where over a dozen students had their lunches taken away because of negative balances in the accounts used to pay for their meals.
Thompson reportedly asked about the lunch differences and learned that some students had a reduced lunch payment plan, which allowed them to pay only 40 cents per day.
"It was horrifying, it broke my heart," Thompson said. "These are elementary kids. They're not bankers and not responsible for the financial issues in the household. We don't know what they have for breakfast. That's the only meal we can control."
Thompson added: "I know that's probably a situation at my school, and the school my son goes to, and the other schools I mentor at. So I came in and inquired about it. When I left the building knowing that they were getting fed, they didn't have that stress."
