Kind Hotel Owner Goes Out of His Way to Pay Overdue Lunch Fee at His Alma Mater

Thanks to one caring man in the Burlington, Iowa community, parents are worrying a little less about lunches for their kids during the school day.

Arrowhead Motel owner Jerry Fenton donated around $700 to 89 different students at Grimes Elementary School to cover all of the overdue lunch balances.

“I find it hard to believe that in this day and age there are kids that go hungry, it’s just unfathomable in this day and age,” Fenton told with WQAD.

Fenton first had the idea to donate to the elementary school after seeing a Facebook post about a mother “who paid for her son’s classmates’ lunch fees after finding out his family lost their job,” shared WQAD.

After that, Fenton decided to donate the funds to cover the overdue fees of $458.63. He even donated a little extra to have some money to spare for any overdrafts in the future.

“A lot of the kids don’t know (they have an overdue lunch balance) because the notice goes home to the parents… We send a note home to the parents, so it will positively affect the parents,” food director, Alan Mehaffy, said.

See more about Fenton and his kind donation below.