An elementary school in Aurora, Colorado fired its kitchen manager after she was found giving free food to poor, hungry children, reported The Huffington Post.
Della Curry was the kitchen manager at the Dakota Valley Elementary School. The school fired Curry saying that she violated school policy by giving free food to children who are ineligible for free or reduced lunch yet still too poor to afford school lunch.
When a family falls into that odd financial threshold, the school only gives the child a slice of cheese on a hamburger bun and milk.
Curry thought that wasn’t enough.
“I had a first-grader in front of me, crying, because she doesn’t have enough money for lunch,” said Curry. “Yes, I gave her lunch.”
When CBS News asked Curry if she regrets her decisions, Curry said she’d do it again if it meant a child could have something substantial for lunch.
The Cherry Creek School District, which Dakota Valley is part of, charges $2.80 for elementary school lunches. Sometimes families can’t even afford that much.
Curry posted a call to action on Facebook to force the Colorado state school system to make school lunches more available to poor, hungry kids.
“The staff at Dakota Valley are some of the most dedicated, caring, supportive and loving people I have ever had that honor of working with,” said Curry on Facebook. “This is just the jumping off point, if anyone has contact within the school board, local and state government or anyone else that can help change this situation, please let me know.”
A school worker shouldn’t have to give hungry children food because of a broken school system, and she shouldn’t be fired for helping a hungry child. Curry simply did what any decent, good-hearted person would do.
