Thread by @ABatemanHouse

Everything is currently a disaster, but I have a suggestion for a small way to make a difference. Thread: Several yrs ago, I was late dropping my kid at school, so had to take her to the main office for check-in (1)

There, a small child was crying as she had a whispered conversation with the office manager. She left, & the office manager turned to me. Just being friendly, I said, “Rough morning, eh?” (2)

The woman spilled out the story: it was school picture day, & this child’s family couldn’t afford to buy photos. So, she had posed for the class photo & had been sent back to her classroom while all her classmates had their individual photos (3)

Afterwards, the students were promising one another that they’d swap their individual photos when they arrived. The girl felt left out & had come to the office to ask if there was something she could do to get some photos. Answer: no (4)

So, I asked if I could pay for her to get a copy of the class photo & some individual photos. The package was less than $20. As I left the office, the manager went to find the child & take her to get her picture (5)

I completely forgot about this until months later, when I ran into the office manager, who reminded me & told me how excited the girl had been to get her pictures. Which made me feel great! And then I forgot about it again (6)

Until the next yr, at class picture time, when I got an email from the office manager who, with no pressure, informed me that the child’s parents still couldn’t afford photos. So I paid again...and asked how many other students couldn’t afford photos (7)

Turns out, there are TONS of school things kids can’t afford. Fortunately my kid’s school has free breakfast & lunch so kids weren’t going hungry, but they were missing out on other things (8)

Growing up, money was always tight, but I never missed a field trip because my parents couldn’t afford a $5 fee. I never got banned from using the school library because I couldn’t pay a late fee. I never had to skip the school’s annual carnival for lack of $4 admission (9)

I never stayed home from school because I couldn’t afford to wash my clothes at the laundromat. These aren’t all happening at my kid’s school, but they are things I heard about when I started talking about my experience with paying for this girl’s school photos (10)

So, what can you do? Do you live near a school, or pass one on your way to work or the gym? If so, stop in & ask the main office if you can pay off a kid’s cafeteria or library bill. If you can make a donation that will allow a student to go in a field trip or play on a team (11)

For the price of a cheap dinner for 1, you can make some child’s school experience better. So please consider doing it! (P.S., Spring is school picture & fieldtrip time...) (end)

Since this thread seems to have taken on a life of its own (wow!), let me add another idea that I learned about recently. Some schools, drs offices, churches, etc have started placing a free container of supplies in ladies’ rooms for those who can’t afford to buy pads or tampons