Inspired by Son, New Mexico Mom Ensures That Every Child in Elementary School Can Eat Lunch

An New Mexico elementary school student and his mom have teamed up to ensure that every child at his Albuquerque school can eat lunch.

It began at the beginning of the school year when Josette Duran’s son asked her to pack two lunches instead of one, KOAT Albuquerque reported. When she asked why, he said there was a boy at school who sat alone at lunch every day with nothing more than a fruit cup to eat. From then on, Duran packed an extra lunch for her son’s lunchbox.

Later during a meeting arranged by the school’s principal, Duran met the boy’s mother. She was raising her son alone and had recently lost her job. She tried to express her appreciation by offering Duran money she’d earned from a new job, but Duran didn’t accept it.

When the girls’ volleyball team Duran coaches found out what she had been doing for her son’s friend, they raised $400 to give to Duran. But Duran used the money to feed even more kids in the school.

“We paid up all the past due accounts for all the kids who need lunch,” Duran said in an emotional Facebook live video. “So now, nobody in the school owes any money, and now everyone can eat.”

Duran understands what it’s like to go hungry. She said that “a few years ago, me and my son were homeless. I was living in my car and I was washing him in bathrooms. And we didn’t have food.”

Watch KOAT Albuquerque’s full report: