Anyone who has ever raised a child knows how full of surprises kids can be.
Even so, Josette Duran’s eyebrows jumped when her young son, Dylan, approached her one morning and asked if he could take two lunches to school.
Josette, who was preparing Dylan’s usual lunch, was surprised by the request and immediately felt that something was awry. She asked him if he wouldn’t get enough of the food she was preparing, but the reality turned out to be completely different.
After asking more questions, Josette learned that Dylan was asking after a second lunch for his friend. There was a boy at school who didn’t have enough money to eat anything but one cup of fruit every day, and Dylan wanted him to eat a proper meal.
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It would later become clear that the boy’s mother was a single mom who had recently lost her job.
“This hits me because me and my son were homeless a few years ago,” Josette said. “I was living in my car and washing him in bathrooms. And we didn’t have food.”
Josette immediately got to work, preparing a second lunch and promising to continue doing so every day.
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She continued to prepare two lunches until the principal called her and invited her to a meeting.
Josette went to school and found the other boy’s mom waiting for her. She’d scraped together all the money she could in a bid to repay Josette for all of her kindness.
However, Josette refused the money and promised to continue helping. As coach of a girls’ volleyball team, Josette organized a fundraiser to help children like Dyland’s friend.
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All told, her team raised $400 that they could put towards buying lunches for those kids who couldn’t afford to pay for food at the school.
“So now, nobody in that school owes any money, and now everyone can eat,” Josette said.
What an inspirational woman, and what a great son she’s raising in Dylan.
