Lunch lady loses job over free meal

A cafeteria worker at an Idaho public school is facing termination after giving a student a $1.70 lunch.

Dalene Bowden was put on unpaid leave Dec. 15 after giving a 12-year-old student, who said she did not have money, a free lunch, according to the Idaho Statesman.

"This just breaks my heart," Bowden told the Idaho Statesman. "I was in the wrong, but what do you do when the kid tells you that they're hungry, and they don't have any money? I handed her the tray."

"We didn't take a meal away from a child," Howell told the Idaho Statesman.

A photo with a letter to Bowden posted Dec. 19 indicates that the district fired her.

She started a GoFundMe to "fight back."

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