Children are our most treasured gifts. They are the future of the nation and in order for them to be able to grow into happy and healthy human beings, they need to get lots of affection, love, devotion, and of course healthy meals.
The sad reality is that many families struggle to make ends meet and are unable to provide their kids with the basic food needs.
It’s even sadder that many times we are not really aware that those kids who are hungry and even starving are among us.
A U.S teacher named Brooke shared how she was deeply touched by the question one of her students asked her, which made her realize what the poor boy was going through. Her post has gone viral and gathered the attention of people from ever corner of the world.
“Today I cried for a child, a child who so innocently talked about food, and the lack of it,” Brooke started her story.
As she was teaching, one of her students approached closer and asked her when the lady who was putting food in his bag was coming. Brooke was confused at first, but she quickly figured out that the lady the boy was asking about was the school’s guidance counselor.
This left Brooke heartbroken. She just couldn’t stop the tears rolling down her face.
She pulled herself together and told the sweet boy how she wasn’t certain when the lady would come, but asked him about the things he wished her to bring him. When she mentioned spaghetti O’s, the boy told her:
‘We don’t have those at my house, but when I do have them they give me a warm belly and help me sleep’
“I lost it, I cried in front of 20 little people. No kid should ever be hungry, ever”, Brooke said.
She knew she had to do something for the boy and the rest of the students who were in the same position so she asked the rest of the teachers to donate money for some food.
Thanks to Brooke’s initiative and her post that was shared around 30,000 times, the school where she works started a food pantry for their students. This way, they know none of the kids who attends the school will ever be hungry while there.
“I did not write this for anyone to get praise, nobody did it for the praise.
I want people to know that teachers are humans, we love our kids and want the very best for them.
Some days we get frustrated and feel overwhelmed, but today we did what was best for a child. Will it show on a test score? Nope! Do we care? Nope!
It’s a crazy rollercoaster of emotions being a teacher, but today it was worth every tear that fell to see him light up when that bag was put into his backpack,” Brooke said.
It’s because of teachers like Brooke who are loving and caring that students who struggle are given a chance to thrive.