A teacher was reduced to tears in class after a young boy’s heartbreaking question about food revealed the harsh reality some children face.
The lad innocently asked when the ‘lady that puts food in his backpack is coming’, referring to the school’s guidance counsellor who provides him with food.
The teacher, Brooke, shared her emotional experience on Facebook, writing: “Today I cried at work. Not because I hate my job, or that it is just too hard (it really is).
“Today I cried for a child, a child who so innocently talked about food, and the lack of it.”
When the boy told her he had run out of food at home, Brooke was taken aback. She asked him what he liked in the bag, whether it was the macaroni bowls or the crackers.
But his response left her heartbroken. “He laughed and told me no, that they didn’t have those,” she wrote. “Then it happened. He looked at me and said ‘those little Os (as he made a small circle with his hand).
‘We don’t have those at my house, but when I do have them they give me a warm belly and help me sleep’. I lost it, I cried in front of 20 little people. No kid should ever be hungry, ever.”
Moved by the boy’s plight, Brooke rallied her fellow teachers to put together a bag of food for him to take home, including a tin of spaghetti Os. The school in Jacksboro, United States, even started a food pantry for its students.
Her post from 2019 went viral, attracting thousands of shares and comments, and even caught the attention of Jennifer Lopez and then fiance Alex Rodriguez who donated enough food for a year. Brooke said she was overwhelmed with messages from people wanting to help.
“I did not write this for anyone to get praise, nobody did it for the praise,” said the teacher. “I want people to know that teachers are humans, we love your kids and want the very best for them.”
“Some days we get frustrated and feel overwhelmed, but today we did what was best for a child. Will it show on a test score? Nope! Do we care? Nope! It’s a crazy rollercoaster of emotions being a teacher, but today it was worth every tear that fell to see him light up when that bag was put into his backpack.”
An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story
