“Secret Santa” Pays Off Over $900 in Past Due Lunch Balances for Children

A generous stranger has paid off more than $900 in overdue lunch balances for students at an elementary school in Herminie, Pennsylvania.

Amy Larcinese, principal of HW Good Elementary School, told ABC News that a “gentleman who did not want to be identified” called the school earlier this month to make the “generous offer.” Then, on Wednesday, December 7, he came in with a check.

“We’re calling him our ‘Secret Santa,'” said Larcinese.

She said her school has about 300 students, and the man’s donations helped 44 of those children.

“For some our kids the only meal they get are the two they get in school,” Larcinese told KDKA.

“I know that it’s not that they don’t want to pay their account balances, they just cant afford to do it right now,” she added.

“We were stunned and so thankful,” she said. “We have a lot of families in really hard times right now, and he is making such a difference in their lives.”

The Secret Santa also offered to help one family that is struggling significantly more than others by paying for that child’s meals for the rest of the month.

“He just wanted to give back to the district,” Larcinese said. “It’s an amazing feeling someone would want to help as many students as they have.”

“A few families contacted us, saying how they were so appreciative of the help especially given the holidays,” she said. “Sometimes, all we see are the sad things going on in the world, so it’s really, really nice to know there are great people out there would give up their things to help others.”

Indeed, it is really nice to hear some good news for once.

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” – Charles Dickens