Person pays off school lunch debt at a Franklin County elementary school

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va.- – A random act of kindness in Franklin County means one school's unpaid lunch account balance is now at zero. A generous donor paid the balance in full.

Dr. Mark Church is the superintendent. He got a call Monday from the principal at one of the elementary schools in Franklin County with good news to share. It was about an anonymous donation. 

"He said someone had came in and said they wanted to pay off all of the overdue lunch accounts. And so he gave them an amount," said Dr. Church. 

Soon after, Dr. Church posted about the act of kindness on Facebook. Although the amount paid is being kept quiet, he said the donor gave 10 times the amount for future use. 

"Each school has a little bit of a fund where will we have students who don't necessarily qualify for free or reduced lunch. They're right there at the cusp and they just don't have the money. There are funds available put forth by citizens that are able to help  those kids in need," said Church. 

Heather Snead is the coordinator of school nutrition. She's thankful someone in the community is stepping up to make sure every child has a hot meal at school. 

"Some of the children in the community the only meal they get is at school.  So it's very important for us to make sure they have breakfast and lunch," said Snead. 

Dr. Church says the community is always willing to step in to help and this donation is the latest example of how generous people can be.