NAPA, Calif. – A 9-year-old California boy used his allowance to pay off his fellow classmates’ outstanding lunch debts.
According to KGO, cooking and mealtime are important to Ryan Kirkpatrick’s family and after a discussion with his mom about some students being unable to afford school lunches, Ryan decided he wanted to help.
Ryan asked his mom to find out how much money his fellow third-graders at Napa’s Park Elementary School owed in lunch debt. So, his mom, Kylie Kirkpatrick, emailed the school to inquire.
“It was I think $74.50,” Kylie told the news outlet. “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 reportedly 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 reports.
Ryan said he just wants his classmates to know they are cared about and hopes knowing that will make them feel happy.