An 8-year-old boy from Michigan named Cayden Taipalus has a heart of gold.
Cayden is in the third grade at Challenger Elementary in Howell. He recently decided to take matters into his own hands after seeing that a friend couldn’t get a hot lunch at school because he didn’t have money in his account.
Cayden was upset when he saw his friend get a cheese sandwich instead of a hot lunch because he didn’t have enough money in his account. Amber Melke-Peters, Cayden’s mom, said that when he got home from school that day, it was clear that he was still upset. He asked his mother how he could help his friend so he wouldn’t have to see something like that happen again.
Cayden then made a website called “Pay It Forward: No Kid Goes Hungry” to raise money. After setting up the website, Cayden asked his family, friends, and neighbors to help him raise money to pay off his friend’s lunch debts.
Cayden didn’t stop there, though. He even recycled to make a little money on his own. Once Cayden had paid off his friends’ lunch debts, he asked the lunch ladies to add money to the accounts of the kids who needed it so they would never have to worry about money again.
Cayden has raised almost $7,000, which has paid for more than 300 hot lunches for students. He wants this to keep going so that no child ever has to go without a hot lunch again.
Amber said, “I am so proud of my son.” “He’s only eight years old, and I can’t believe he can understand what’s going on. He has a good heart.”