A 9-year-old Napa boy used his allowance to pay off his fellow classmates’ outstanding lunch debts.
According to San Francisco television station KGO, cooking and mealtime are important to Ryan Kirkpatrick’s family. After a discussion with his mother about some students being unable to afford school lunches, Ryan decided he wanted to help.
He asked his mother, Kylie Kirkpatrick, to find out how much money his fellow third-graders at Napa’s Park Elementary School owed in lunch debt.
She in turn emailed the school to inquire.
“It was I think $74.50,” Kylie told KGO. “So I took that email and came to Ryan and said, ‘What do you want to do?’ and he said, ‘I guess I can pay for it.’ I said, ‘Are you sure?’ And he said, ‘Yes.'”
Ryan then used his allowance money — which normally would’ve been used on sports gear — to pay off all his classmates’ outstanding debts anonymously.
Depending on income levels, meals at Ryan’s school range in price from 30 cents to $3.25 each. District policy requires students to receive a meal even if they have a “negative lunch account,” KGO reported.
Ryan said he just wants his classmates to know they are cared about and hopes knowing that will make them feel happy.