After San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman inspired him, a Vancouver, Washington second-grader decided to use the money he raised to pay off his school’s lunch debt.
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Keoni Ching crafted handmade keychains for Kindness Week at Bejamin Franklin Elementary School. He sold each one for $5, CNN reported.
The 8-year-old ultimately raised more than $4,000 for his school, which is just a few thousand short of the nearly $7,500 Sherman donated to wipe out lunch debt at a California middle school last year. Sherman had also donated $20,000 to Tacoma Washington's Tacoma Public Schools to cover its lunch debt, NBC Sports reported.
But while Keoni didn’t raise quite as much, his funds will still go along way. Not only is $1,000 going toward Franklin Elementary to pay off the $500 owed for lunch and any debut it may incur thereafter, but six neighboring schools will split the rest of the amount. Each school will receive $500 to help pay down their lunch debt.
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Keoni, who is actually a Miami Dolphins fan, said he’s happy to bring smiles to his classmates’ faces.
"And those smiles will be because those kids will have enough money to get food," Keoni told KEPR.
His mother said her son has long been generous.
“He’s always been such a kindhearted kid. He’s always been such a loving and giving kid,” April Ching said. “So, it just makes us very proud of him and proud of all of the things that he wants to do for other people.”
