Thanks to the Dawdy family in Brown County, Indiana, school children started the new semester without any school lunch debt.
Late last year, Amber Dawdy found out kids in the county's public schools owed more than $6,000 to the food service department. When you have a debt like that, you must take the lowest level lunch--no choices at all.
So, Amber began a Facebook fundraiser to pay off lunch debt for all students in Brown County Schools. Within two weeks, the family had raised more than $6000 to pay off the lunch room debts of more than 650 kids!!
Amber, the mom, says, "I really, really don’t want these kids to think that everything just gets handed to them, because that’s what they’re living like right now. We have a rule where they do a chore a day and you would think that it was killing them.”
Last year, the family volunteered at the local food bank. They also had the girls pick out their own clothing and toys to donate.
For Amber, it was a way to show her three daughters how important it is to give back to their community.
And, it impacted the lives of hundreds of families, who were able to start their New Year with a clean slate.