Despite everything that is wrong in the world, it can be heartening to see how good people can be.
Take eight-year-old Cayden Taipalus, whose compassion and kindness allowed his friends to
Cayden, a student at Challenger Elementary in Howell, Michigan, showed courage one day when he saw that his friend was being denied a delicious warm meal at school.
When Cayden noticed that his friend was only receiving a cheese sandwich instead of a hot meal since his lunch account had been so empty, he made the decision to make a difference.
Distressed by the situation, he sought guidance from his mother, Amber Melke-Peters. She discussed with him measures to ensure that such incidents would not recur in the future. As a result, they decided to start the “Pay It Forward: No Kid Goes Hungry” website for fundraising.
Cayden tried to work things out by asking friends, relatives, and neighbors for help and asking them to donate money to pay for his friend’s meal. But according to an ABC News story about Cayden’s amazing story, this extended beyond monetary donations.
In fact, Cayden encouraged his school’s lunch workers to use the money he collected from recycling to help youngsters who were struggling financially.
Since its launch, Cayden’s campaign has raised about $41,000, which means that hundreds and hundreds of students will be able to eat lunch because of his efforts! His unwavering objective is to ensure that no child ever has to suffer the agony of skipping a hot lunch following a tough school day.
With her joy nearly overtaking her, Cayden’s mother told ABC News, “I am so very proud of my son.” I think it’s really amazing that he understood this concept at the age of eight. He has a golden heart.
What began as a rumbling in Cayden’s gut evolved into a concept that would guarantee that a large number of children eat hot lunches throughout the school day.
In the comments section of the campaign, several people shared how happy they were to see Cayden’s simple gesture of compassion. “We contributed to this and think it is a wonderful project you chose to do,” one person commented. I’m hopeful that the Make a Difference project has nominated your concept. Cayden, you’ve truly made a difference.
They went on to say, “You have done a fantastic job of helping a lot of kids.” In a country where there is plenty, you wouldn’t think that kids would go hungry, yet for many kids, school lunch may be their only meal of the day. My heart is broken. By doing this, we can help raise a few children while maintaining their dignity, since it is said that it takes a village to raise a child.
