Utah teacher raises $20K to pay off school lunch balances for students

Garrett Jones, a teacher at Rocky Mountain Middle School in Heber City, posts an update on donations coming in to cover school lunch costs.

Garrett Jones, a teacher at Rocky Mountain Middle School in Heber City, posts an update on donations coming in to cover school lunch costs. (CGJ205 via TikTok)


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HEBER — A middle school teacher in Heber City has raised $20,000 to pay off all the school lunch fee balances at his school and then some, simply by posting a video on TikTok.

On Jan. 31, Rocky Mountain Middle School teacher Garrett Jones posted a video stating that if 2,673 people would each send him $1, he would be able to pay the outstanding school lunch fees at his school.

"The last thing a kid should be worried about is how much they owe for meals," Jones said.

Garrett Jones, a teacher at Rocky Mountain Middle School in Heber City, posts a request for TikTok viewers to donate just $1 to cover school lunch costs at his school.
Garrett Jones, a teacher at Rocky Mountain Middle School in Heber City, posts a request for TikTok viewers to donate just $1 to cover school lunch costs at his school. (Photo: CGJ205 via TikTok)

Jones said he posted the video as part of a trend where people were asking their followers to donate $1 each, so that they could do things like go on extravagant trips and have dream weddings. He said that he wanted to do something that would be meaningful to others.

"I wanted to make better use of this trend, but I didn't think it would go anywhere," the teacher said. "I wasn't even sure the total amount of overdue lunch fees were owed, and I thought that maybe I'd be able to raise a couple hundred bucks."

Little did Jones know that when he woke up the next day, there would be $2,000 in his Venmo account.

"When I saw that so many people had donated, I decided that I needed to find out what the actual amount of overdue fees were, so I talked to the kitchen staff and was told that the amount was over $8,000," he recalled.

That night, Jones went online to thank people who donated and give an update to reflect the actual amount owed. By that night, the amount went up to $10,000, and by Thursday, donations reached $20,000. He said that he was overwhelmed by both the monetary response and the kind words left by donors.


A dollar isn't going to change anyone's life individually but, together with lots of hands, we can make it work.

– Garrett Jones, Heber City middle school teacher


"It's just insane to see that many people rally together," Jones said. "I got so many messages, and so many were saying things like, 'I was this kid and there's nothing worse than being told you have a balance,' and 'The only thing worse than being hungry as a middle schooler is being embarrassed,'" Jones said.

He agrees with the commenters and said, as a teacher, it is hard to see students experience the shame that comes from being told they have an overdue balance.

"Our school doesn't turn kids away if they don't have money, but, as a teacher, it's such a bummer when they bring the slips of paper around that you have to give to the students that say that they owe money; It's embarrassing for them, and it's not fun for us," he said. "There are so many kids where their families are just above the line of where they need to be to get free and reduced lunch, and things are really tough right now for so many people that it's just like a shackle for these kids."

Jones said that with everything happening so fast, he wasn't sure what his principal would say when he told him what happened.

"I didn't tell anyone before, because I didn't think that anything was going to come of it, but when the donations started to come in, I was like, 'OK, I gotta tell somebody,'" Jones said. "I told my principal, and he couldn't believe it. He was like, 'Are you sure that's real money?' He wanted to see what happened over the next day, and then do whatever was needed.

"I had a phone call this morning with my district to decide what we're going to do, and we're going to set up a separate account through our district foundation that handles donations and scholarships, and it looks like we're going to have enough to take care of some other kids in the district as well," he said. "We are also going to help bolster our take-home sack lunch program in the district."


Things are really tough right now for so many people that it's just like a shackle for these kids.

– Garrett Jones, Heber City middle school teacher


With all that has happened over the past few days, Jones said that it has really given him a sense of the impact the tiniest acts of kindness can do.

"It just made me think about what we could do if a few people gave just $1," he said. "A dollar isn't going to change anyone's life individually but, together with lots of hands, we can make it work."

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Arianne Brown has been a contributing writer at KSL.com for many years with a focus of sharing heartwarming stories.

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