Girl Eats Only Half of Her Lunch in School to Give the Rest to a Poor Boy – Story of the Day

A school canteen worker gets curious and follows a girl who eats only half of her lunch and packs the rest in her backpack. When she discovers the girl is giving her food to a poor boy, the woman decides to do something about it.

Mrs. Murphy had been working as a cafeteria employee at Cypress Valley School for four years and there was no job in the whole world that she loved more than that. In fact, because she and her husband could not have children, the woman's face lit up every time she served lunch to the little children and saw their smiles.

"You are young! You should eat a lot and be healthy!" was like a motto she enthusiastically told every student she served food to.

Some kids frowned at that and said, "Mrs. Murphy, that doesn't even sound cool! You need to cook up something better!!"

But the elderly woman shrugged it off. "You smarty pants! Mrs. Murphy's food and motto are unrivaled! Now come on, I need to see your dishes clean!"

"All right, Mrs. Murphy!!" The children laughed as they took their seats and enjoyed lunch.

Mrs. Murphy loved feeding the kids. | Source: Pexels

One day after serving the kids food, Mrs. Murphy was talking to her co-worker when she noticed something odd. She saw a little girl at the far end of the cafeteria who finished only half of her lunch and stowed the rest in a lunch box.

"Is she not feeling well? Why didn't she eat?" Mrs. Murphy was puzzled as the girl stood up and walked away.

The next day, when the girl came to the cafeteria, the same thing happened. She divided the food into two equal portions, placed one half in her lunch box, and ate only the other half. Mrs. Murphy became concerned when this continued for several days in a row, so she decided to follow her one day.

She saw that after classes, the young girl went in the opposite direction of the school, which led to an abandoned neighborhood.

"Why would she go there after school?" wondered the elderly woman as she stealthily followed the girl, taking care not to be noticed.

Mrs. Murphy was curious why the girl saved half of her lunch. | Source: Pexels

After a couple of minutes, she noticed the girl walk into an alley where a small boy dressed in rags sat on the ground on a piece of cardboard. Mrs. Murphy came to a halt and peered into the alley.

"Good Lord, this is where the food is going?" she gasped, covering her mouth in shock.

The girl smiled and approached the boy. "David! I'm here!"

The boy looked up at the girl and smiled warmly. "Claire! Did you get me food?"

"Of course I did!" she replied, sitting on her knees and opening her backpack. "We got sausages today, and I saved them for you. I'm not a big fan of them anyway." She handed him the lunch box.

"Thank you," the boy replied. "Mommy is sick. You were a little late today and I was worried you wouldn't come."

Claire saved her lunch every day for a poor boy. | Source: Pexels

"I'm sorry. I'll get you more food the next time! Promise!" she said as she rose to her feet. "I need to go now! My mom will be mad at me if I go home late…."

David nodded and waved her bye.

Just then, Mrs. Murphy approached them. "So this is why you don't finish your lunch? Darling, you need to eat too! You could have just let someone know about all this…."

Claire got scared when she saw Mrs. Murphy there. "You? You work at the school cafeteria, don't you? Please don't tell anyone about this! Mom will be mad if she finds out I don't finish my lunch," she said, lowering her head.

But Mrs. Murphy smiled and patted her head. "What you're doing is not wrong, Claire. Helping someone in need is a good thing. But you're not doing it the right way…."

Claire looked up at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you think you owe me a little explanation about what's going on here, little boy?" Mrs. Murphy asked, tilting her head to David, eager to know what a young boy like him was doing on the streets in such a terrible condition.

David's family was very poor. | Source: Pexels

But before he could say anything, Claire spoke up. "None of this is his fault. His family is very poor…." she began.

David and his family struggled to make ends meet and could barely afford one full meal a day. Claire met him at a crossing near school while he was begging for food and money. She felt bad for him and began saving part of her lunch for his family. They agreed to meet at the alley every day, where she would pass over the food to him.

"He has a little sister at home. I don't want them to be hungry," Claire finished.

"Oh, dear! You did a wonderful thing, honey," Mrs. Murphy's eyes welled up, and she hugged Claire. "You too. Come here, darling," she told David.

As she hugged the two kids, Mrs. Murphy said, "Listen, kids, starting today, no one will go hungry, okay? Neither of you will miss out on food. Mrs. Murphy will handle this...."

Mrs. Murphy came up with an idea to help David and his family. | Source: Pexels

Mrs. Murphy knew the school had a lot of food left after the kids finished eating, so she began packing that food in boxes and visiting David in the alley, where she handed him the food.

Claire accompanied her when she went to meet David, and the smile Mrs. Murphy saw every time on the two kids' faces made her believe that while she didn't have her own children, God had indirectly blessed her with much more — she was feeding, not one, not two, but several children with her hands, and that meant a lot to her.

What can we learn from this story?

• If you can help someone in need, you should. Claire knew saving a portion of her lunch would help David's family, so she did it daily. When Mrs. Murphy learned about David's family, she, too, jumped at the chance to help him, making good use of food that might otherwise have gone to waste.
• Learn to be thankful for what you have. We easily throw away the food we don't want to eat, but for some people, like David's family, having their plates full of food is a dream. So learn to appreciate what you have, and if possible, share it with those in need, as Claire and Mrs. Murphy did.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman who follows a little boy who takes leftovers from her restaurant every day and finds something shocking.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.