The cafeteria denies a hot lunch meal for a poorer student, so he buys hundreds of lunches for the children at his school
Often the news from around the world is not exactly comforting, and can indeed make us doubt so much, that we lose faith in the human race.
Yet, looking around, we realize that at the same time there are many, endless examples of solidarity and altruism, that are able to arouse in the spirit that compassion that we thought was lost.
That is why the story of the young Cayden Taipalus is heartfelt, once known, because it represents the best part of being human.
Cayden is only 8 years old, and perhaps his young age allowed him to clearly see what he felt was an injustice, so naturally, he could not just stand by and not do anything about it.
Everything changed during a normal lunch period in the school cafeteria, at the Challenger Elementary School in Michigan. While Cayden had a full meal ticket, another student had to settle for a less complete meal because he did not have enough money on his school lunch card.
The event profoundly upset him, and that is how his mother, Amber Melke-Peters, found him when she came home from work.
"He wanted to know how he could help his schoolmates," says Amber; who as a good mother decided to help him.
Thus the idea of "Pay It Forward: No Kids Goes Hungry" was born. This is a fundraising campaign to finance the meals of all the children at the school coming from low-income families.
And that's not all --- Cayden started visiting relatives, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, explaining his goal and asking for support. He even went around the neighborhood to collect bottles and cans for recycling, and to earn more money.
The commitment of Cayden has been very successful! In fact, the campaign launched on FundRazr has indeed hit its target, and has collected more than $ 41,000! A surprising amount - but never as much as the spirit of disinterested generosity displayed by young Cayden.
"I am very proud of my son," Amber said. "He's only 8 years old and grasping the concept of this is simply fantastic in my eyes. He has a heart of gold."
And it is not the only one --- the whole school is indeed proud of Cayden's grand gesture.
Now that Cayden has opened his eyes to reality, he cannot limit himself to just looking at his own school. Therefore, he has obtained his objective and has extended the reach of his program to all the Livingston County elementary schools.
We wish him good luck, hoping that what he has done is a good example for all of us!
