8-Year-Old Pays Off Fellow Students' Accounts After Friend Forced to Give Up Hot Lunch
Cayden Taipalus, 8, saw a need within his school and decided to take action. The third grader at Challenger Elementary School in Howell, Michigan saw a friend forced to give up his hot lunch because his account balance was overdue; Taipalus decided to make a change and pay off the account balances for all the students at his school.
"I just want to make kids have a better lunch," Cayden told Today.
Cayden came home upset when his friend was forced to give up his hot lunch simply because his account was overdue. He came home and told his mother about the situation and decided he wanted to help his friend and all those who were forced to go without a hot lunch. Together they returned empty bottles and cans and asked for donations from family and friends.
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The story grew thanks to a local radio station, and the donations then poured in from the city, state, country, and even abroad. Each one helped pay for a student's hot lunch, which made Cayden extremely grateful and excited.
"Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined this would happen," Cayden's mother, Amber Melke-Peters said. "He's just a little boy trying to do some good. Cayden is very modest. He's a good-hearted boy that wants to do some good for people."
Not only has Cayden paid off the accounts at his own school, but with the money he's raised, he's been able to visit five schools to pay off lunch accounts for students he didn't even know. According to a fundraising website, Cayden has paid for over 4,000 reduced lunches for students with the $14,110 he's raised. Cayden has a goal of raising $15,000 and continuing to help others get a hot lunch.
His story is inspiring to many, especially as schools continue to take away hot lunches because the students' parents are unable to pay. It's becoming a national problem, one that has led ordinary people to take a stand and pay for the lunches of others. Cayden, however, is unique in the fact that he is but 8 years old.
