upworthy
Joy

Community raises $85K to pay off lunch debt for students who’d be served cheese sandwiches

People were outraged when the Decatur, Georgia schools announced it would serve “alternative meals” to kids.

grilled cheese, decatur georgia, lunch debt
via J Wynia/Flickr and woodleywonderworks/Flickr

Kids eating lunch and a grilled chese sandwich.

School lunch debt is a big problem in the United States with nearly 30 million students unable to afford meals. An Education Data survey found that the average school meal debt in the U.S. is $180.60 per student.

The problem with school lunch debt is that it hurts in 2 ways. It puts children in the position of being shamed and humiliated for not having the money, leading many to skip lunch altogether. It also places a burden on school districts that have to pay off the debt.

The City Schools of Decatur in Georgia announced that kids with unpaid lunch debt would be served an “alternative meal” of a cheese sandwich and milk starting February 1. Middle and high school students would be served the sandwich after accumulating $10.50 in lunch debt and elementary students after they crossed the $9.75 threshold.

The district created the rule because the city had accumulated $88,000 in debt from unpaid lunches.

News about the cheese sandwich went viral, causing outrage among many who believed the children were being shamed for a situation beyond their control.

After the news went viral, Goodr CEO and Atlanta-area resident Jasmine Crowe-Houston set up a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money to pay off the school district’s debt so every child can have a nutritious meal.

Goodr is a national network united to help eliminate food waste and end world hunger.

I've launched a #GoFundMe to eliminate unpaid meal balances for kids at Decatur City Schools. No child should face embarrassment over a meal. Let's ensure every child enjoys lunch with dignity. 🍎 

“No child should ever go hungry or be subjected to unnecessary embarrassment due to financial constraints. I believe that every child deserves a full, nutritious meal to fuel their bodies and minds for a successful day of learning,” Crowe-Houston wrote on the GoFundMe page.

“That's why I've launched this GoFundMe campaign with the goal of raising $88,000 to eliminate the meal account balances for all students in need,” she continued. “Your generous contributions will directly impact these children, allowing them to enjoy a well-rounded meal like their peers and alleviating any potential embarrassment they may face.”

Just as the story about the cheese sandwiches caught the public’s attention, so did the plan to stop them. The GoFundMe page raised the money necessary to cancel the school lunch debt in just 2 days.

“My hands are shaking as I write this update this morning,” Crowe Houston wrote on GoFundMe. “My heart is overwhelmed with emotion, astonishment, and gratitude as I wake up to the incredible news that we've achieved our goal in under 48 hours! We can pay off all the meal balances and no cheese sandwiches!”

But after that announcement, Crowe-Houston learned that a corporate foundation had already stepped in to eliminate the school lunch debt. The Goodr CEO offered the money to the district to provide a fund for future lunch-debt problems the students may face, but the donation was declined.

The cheese sandwich story is a beautiful example of a community standing up to provide essential nutrition for children. However, it does raise an even larger question that begs to be answered: in the wealthiest country in the world, should school lunch debt even exist in the first place?

From Your Site Articles
lunch shaming
Internet

Gen X has been designated the 'worst grandparents.' Sadly, their explanation makes sense.

The latch-key generation doesn't hate their family, they're burnt out.

Photo credit: Canva

Gen X designated the 'worst grandparents' by Millennials

Generation X, typically the children of Baby Boomers born between the years of 1965-1980 tend to have a complicated reputation depending on who you ask. Some view them as a feral generation never to be spoken of poorly without consequence, while others view them as innovators pushing us into the future. But in recent years, Gen Xers have been dubbed the "worst grandparents" by social media users.

This multi-year conversation started when a video went viral calling Gen X out for being "terrible" grandparents, claiming that they never want to help with grandchildren. It didn't take long before other Millennials piled on to air their own grievances about Gen X grandparents. Most people criticizing the "new grandparents" were genuinely perplexed as to how they did not want to be more involved in the lives of their grandchildren.

Gen X; Gen X grandparents; absent grandparents; Gen X worst grandparents; Millennials; worst grandparents; Gen ZFamily baking fun in the kitchen.Photo credit: Canva

Kylie Muse reveals in a video that she felt neglected by her Gen X parents growing up, saying, "It's quite a common theme for Gen X parents to be neglectful in some capacity and it's just crazy to me how more of them haven't learned from the past 20 to 30 years, instead of these grandparents seeing their kids having kids as an opportunity to restore the health in their relationships with their kids by showing up and helping them during the hardest transition of their lives, they would rather double down and compromise their relationship with that next generation. All for the sake of hyper-individualism and pride."

@kylies.muse Gen x grandparents and their beloved empty nest 🥴 just say you hate having a family 😭 #grandparents #grandparentsoftiktok ♬ original sound - Kylie ꩜

The critique coming from the younger generation is not lost on Gen X, and they started coming out in force to respond with such vigor you'd think John Hughes had just announced the re-release of The Breakfast Club. It would seem that some of the people complaining of the lack of involvement have not considered that Gen X could have valid reasons for not immediately jumping in to take on grandparenting in the way some expect. A man by the name of John S. Blake gives a candid look into why Gen X was neglected as children and, in turn, became hype-independent at an early age.

"As a Gen X who's been on this earth long enough to have some hindsight I can tell you this, being independent at a young age is not a flex, what it actually means is capitalism is so brutal that our parents were forced to neglect their own children to stay alive. My generation was struggling so much that we had to leave our children unattended in order to produce enough so that we could afford to exist," Blake says.

@blackfluidpoet Replying to @ellens0061 #foryoupage #homealone #fyp #foryou ♬ Slippin' - Re-Recorded - DMX

But perhaps one of the most heart wrenching explanations comes from an elder Millennial who goes by the name Amazing Dea. In response to another Millennial who asks about Gen X being let off the hook, Dea shares, "Being as though you look like you might be a younger Millennial, let me go ahead and enlighten you. Generation X and older Millennials had to live through more than just this pandemic. We had the crack epidemic, we had the AIDS epidemic and let me tell you something, it was scary as f***."

Dea went on to explain that there were apartment complexes burned due to high populations of people with AIDS living in them and how they would witness people go from being completely normal to being addicted to crack in a matter of weeks. It seems that depending on socioeconomic status, Gen Xers lived wildly different lives with the common theme being growing up entirely too fast at an extremely young age.

Gen X; Gen X grandparents; absent grandparents; Gen X worst grandparents; Millennials; worst grandparents; Gen ZThree generations smiling by the sea.Photo credit: Canva

Another person kindly breaks down the confusion over why Gen X isn't rising to the occasion of being award-winning grandparents. In response to the criticism she replies, "We grew up in a different time, first of all. A lot of us, meaning me, Gen X, I was raised by boomers. A lot of us did not get raised by our grandparents. We were like the feral kids, like by 7 and 9 years old we were actually babysitting our brothers and sisters, alright."

The woman explains further in the video that Gen X doesn't want to raise their grandchildren or simply be babysitters, that there's a difference between expecting grandparents to be involved and expecting them to be babysitters.

@that1crazy72 Let’s take it a step further. You share DNA with your grandkids they are part of you not everyone gets the privilege of being a grandparent so if you are one take that as a blessing #genxgrandparents ♬ original sound - That1crazy72

In many of the response videos shared by Gen Xers, they certainly seem to love their grandchildren and children alike, but there's a discrepancy in expectation. The consensus of the forgotten generation seems to be that they had adult responsibilities much too early, were exposed to adult life experiences at a young age, and were often left to their own devices for long periods of time while also being told that their voices didn't matter.

While the argument seems to be around their lack of involvement as grandparents, they appear to be saying that they want to enjoy the freedom they didn't have as children, while being valued as a person and not a babysitter. In many follow up videos, Gen Xers gushed over their grandchildren and how they loved when they were around. It's just that they draw the line at raising them. Maybe for some, their experiences with their own childhood isn't enough to move Gen X out of the "worst grandparents" category, but for others it provides much needed context.

From Your Site Articles
gen x worst grandparents
Celebrity

Oprah Winfrey gets pranked by Cynthia Erivo at the Tony's with one of her own iconic bits

She was told to check under her seat.

Harpo Productions, Fandom.com

"I've been waiting all night to do this."

Even folks who have never watched Oprah are aware of the truly epic giveaways made on her show. Aside from Tom Cruise jumping on the couch, it was pretty much the show’s most unforgettable bit. Audience members never knew what potential treasures they might walk away with.

Of course, there’s one giveaway that happened 25 years ago that outweighed them all—when all 276 audience members received brand-new Pontiac G-6 cars that reportedly retailed for $28,500 during her “Wildest Dreams Come True” season.

The moment was not only unforgettable because of the whopping retail value, but for Oprah’s iconic delivery “You get a car! You get a car! You get a car! Everybody gets a car!” which as we know continues to live on, thanks to Internet memes.

Oprah, meme, Internet, Oprah show, gifEverybody gets a car!media3.giphy.com

For the 2025 Tony Awards, host Cynthia Erivo decided to give Winfrey a taste of her own wholesome medicine.

"Miss Oprah, as a change of pace I thought we should give you a gift," she told Winfrey. "Check under your chair."

Lo and behold, the longtime host found a bag filled with goodies like Thin Mints and gummy bears. And still, there was one more thing awaiting.

"What's the other thing? What's that other thing in there?" Erivo prompted.

Winfrey then pulled out a tiny red toy car, followed by Erivo quipping "You get a car. I’ve been waiting all night to do that.”

Down in the comments, people were utterly amused, even those who wouldn’t describe themselves as Oprah fans.

"Cute play on her talk show’s most famous gift to guests,” one person wrote.

"Cynthia told Oprah to look under her chair and gave her a car where is her emmy," joked another.

Others simply dubbed it a “slick” and “legendary” move.



Though this is certainly the most well known of the Oprah giveaways, other episodes have featured trips to Disney World, shopping sprees, new homes, refrigerators, TV sets, luxury duffel bags…just to name a few.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Interestingly enough, Erivo and Winfrey share a previous Tony connection. Winfrey, who played Sofia in the 1985 film version of The Color Purple, would later produce the revival of The Color Purple musical where Erivo made her Broadway debut as Celie, which earned her the “Best Actress in a Musical” award.

As far as what Winfrey was thinking of her immortal car giveaway, in a 2011 video posted to her OWN Network, she described it as “one of my all time favorite happiest moments ever.”

She also defended her enthusiasm behind saying “You get a car!” multiple times, saying it was because she feared people would think it was a joke. Honestly, understandable.

And while we might remember the giveaways best of all, Oprah was also one of the first talk shows to move away from tabloid talk to encourage confessional conversation where people could open up about their deepest struggles, from addiction to childhood trauma, and (hopefully) find healing. This played a pivotal role in elevating self-help culture and creating societal change.

But yeah, the car moment is timeless.

From Your Site Articles
awards shows
Planet

Heartbroken weatherman stops mid-report to explain on live TV why he 'can't' forecast anymore

"We may be flying blind" from now on.

NBC6 & Canva Photos

John Morales stopped his report to educate viewers on what budget cuts really mean.

I hardly ever watch the news on television, especially not for the weather. It's just so much easier to pick up my phone and check Google or The Weather Channel. I just want to know how warm it's going to be or how likely it is to rain. These days, I can find that out in about 10 seconds and go about my day.

But when there's potential danger—hurricanes, storms that might knock out the power of topple over trees, tornado warnings, or threats of ice and snow—my trusty local meteorologist or weatherman is always there. All of that said, I've never once considered that I might not be able to get my weather forecast from either source, at least not accurately. It's 2025—our weather modeling should be better than ever, state of the art, right?

John Morales, a meteorologist and hurricane specialist with NBC6 in South Florida, was reporting on an upcoming storm when he suddenly shifted gears, right in the middle of the broadcast.

weatherman, weather, meteorologist, news, tv news, news anchor, viral videos, trump, doge, governmentWithout good data, we can't accurately predict the paths of hurricanes. Photo by NASA on Unsplash

Morales explains that in his 34 years of presenting the weather, he's always been able to confidently tell his viewers when a hurricane might hit, or when it might turn away. He's always been able to stand behind his data, modeling, and forecast in order to help protect the people of South Florida.

"I am here to tell you that I am not sure I can do that this year."

Why? "Because of the cuts, the gutting, the sledgehammer attack on science in general."

Babbel, language, learning language, deals, salesA person uses the Babbel appBabbel

Babbel’s Biggest Sale of the Year: Get 67% off. Lifetime Subscriptions For $199

Morales then pulled up a graphic instead of his usual weather map. It laid out some stark realities about severe understaffing of the National Weather Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Between brutal layoffs, employees accepting the recent DOGE buyout, and straight-up resignations, the agencies responsible for collecting weather data have lost hundreds and hundreds of valuable experts.

He also explained that due to federal government budget cuts, there's been a sizeable decrease in weather balloon launches across the country. Weather balloons are instruments that take crucial measurements of the upper atmosphere and send data that helps with forecasting. With less data available, and lower quality data, Morales say that "the quality of forecasts is becoming degraded."

That's a pretty scary thought, especially in a place like South Florida. What do you do when your local meteorologist can't predict what a powerful hurricane will do next?

"This is a multi-generational impact on science in this country," Morales warns.

Watch his passionate plea here:

Almost nine million people viewed the powerful clip on X. It was reshared over 26,000 times. Morales' message is definitely getting the attention it deserves.

It's not just the National Weather Service that's bleeding. In the name of efficiency, The White House has slashed budgets at the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, and more. Trimming the federal budget sounds well and good until you realize that we won't be making any major cancer breakthroughs any time soon without funding the research. And we won't be able to protect people from hurricanes and tornadoes without complete weather data.

(And yes, even the Weather app on your iPhone needs a database to pull from.)

Meanwhile, we're spending $1 trillion—yes, trillion— per year on our military. This is the anti-science, anti-expert sentiment Morales is talking about. It's been building for years and is just now coming to a head in the worst way.

We still need meteorologists and weather experts like Morales. We still need scientists.

weatherman, weather, meteorologist, news, tv news, news anchor, viral videos, trump, doge, governmentWe still need human scientists and experts that can compile and read maps like this one. Photo by Brian McGowan on Unsplash

ChatGPT can pull weather data from Google and tell you if there's going to be a thunderstorm, but can it tell you when the data behind that forecast is incomplete or unreliable? That's the reality we're facing right now, and we might not know the forecast isn't reliable until it's too late in some cases.

TV weathermen who live in our communities and can put crucial context behind the weather and help keep us safe still matter. Not only that, but they are ambassadors for science, and they still have a big platform in many communities around the country. Morales is making sure he makes the most of his.

From Your Site Articles
weather
Internet

Growing up poor can make you grateful for little things others take for granted

Even years after gaining financial stability, being able to afford "small luxuries" still feels surreal.

Photo credit: Canva

Fresh flowers are a huge splurge for many people.

People who grow up with financial stability—not necessarily wealthy or well-off, just financially comfortable—may not have any clue what it's like to truly worry about money. Not being able to afford everything you want is vastly different from not being able to afford everything you need, and those in the latter category have experiences and relationships with money that are unique to being poor.

In fact, as a thread on X shows growing up poor can create a lifelong perspective on spending money that ultimately leads to gratitude for things others often take for granted. A post asked people who grew up poor but are now financially stable to share small luxuries that still feel surreal, and the answers are eye-opening. Those who didn't grow up poor might expect answers like "being able to buy name brand shoes" or "being able to afford a concert ticket," but the "small luxuries" are a lot less luxurious than that.

"Real food storage containers, not the used margarine and cool whip tubs!" shared one person. While some people might choose to recycle food containers that way for environmental reasons, storing food in recycled plastic containers that aren't meant for that purpose can be unhealthy. Having a set of dedicated food storage containers is a big deal.

Another response was "Just having bills on autopay." People who aren't struggling to make ends meet each month can put their bills on autopay and not worry about whether the money to pay them will be in the account on the withdrawal date. People who are struggling often have to carefully track and and manage dates and amounts so as to not overdraw their account, which leads to more fees.

Many people talked about having a reliable car:

"Having a reliable car. AC works. Tires are good and under a warranty. Seats are heated or cooled front and back. Steering wheel is heated. With a remote start so it can be warmed up or cooled off by the time I get to it. And if something does go wrong AAA will come and save me."

"Affording safe tires and vehicle repairs."

"Running AC in my car without worrying about the car overheating. When I was a kid, our cars would overheat and we had to blast the heater in the middle of summer to cool it down."

And simply filling up the gas tank? Priceless.

getting gas, gas pump, gas station, car, luxuryFilling your tank with gas feels like a luxury for many.Giphy GIF by Andrew W. K.

"Just pulling up to a gas pump and allowing the fuel to pump as I go in and buy a drink, all while not calculating how that will impact my month!"

"Getting a full tank of gas. My mom would get $3 at a time. I didn’t understand as a child. As an adult, I always fill up the tank. That’s a privilege."

"Being able to fill my gas tank instead of wondering how far my $10 in change would actually get me."

"Filling up the gas tank without doing math first feels rich when you grew up in a '$4 on pump 3' household."

Another luxury? Prescription sunglasses.

"Every time I put them on I'm like 'Ahhh I made it.'" wrote one person.

"I’ve had thick prescriptions since I was a kid. Never had sunglasses until well into adulthood," another share. "It’s a good feeling."

Many people shared that being able to go out to eat at a restaurant and not having to order the cheapest thing on the menu still tickles them. But perhaps the most repeated answer was about grocery shopping without calculating your way through it.

"The most common response, and also my answer, is grocery shopping without checking the prices and being able to purchase 'options.' Growing up, we had about a five year period where every meal was rice and beans or whatever we had canned from the garden harvest from the previous fall."

"Biggest thing for me is shopping for food and not really worrying about the prices. Buying my Ribeyes and coming home to enjoy cooking them in my nice whole set of iron skillets, being able to curl up in beautiful blankets, watch TV, sit in my porch rocking chair, it's the peace."

grocery shopping, food budget, buying groceries, money, luxuriesGrocery shopping is more enjoyable than stressful when you're not having to calculate every penny.Photo credit: Canva

"Grocery shopping with no set budget. Still feels great after 40 years."

"Going to the grocery store without using a calculator the whole time."

Other things like buying fresh flowers, ordering an appetizer, having a refrigerator in the garage, or not having to stress about home repairs were mentioned, all of which drove home the point: When you grow up poor, you gain an appreciation for little things that people with means just consider normal living.

money, wallet, spending, cash, financial stability, financesOpening your wallet without worry is a small luxury.Photo credit: Canva

As one person wrote:

"It’s not the designer clothes. It’s walking into a room and not hearing debt breathing down your neck. It’s opening the fridge and not seeing struggle staring back. It’s buying two of something just because you f-ing can. People born rich will never understand the godlike power of:

- Filling your gas tank without checking your bank app

- Buying your mom that thing she never asked for

- Ordering food without scanning the right side of the menu

- Sleeping without fear gnawing at your chest."

No one should have to understand the fear that comes with being poor, especially children, but the one silver lining of growing up in financial struggle is the wonder and gratitude that sticks with you when you're finally able to let that fear go.

From Your Site Articles
finances
Joy

Mom gives the classic 'Guess Who?' game a hilarious twist by using members of her family

This is now the only way to play Guess Who.

Wikipedia/Canva

A great way to have fun while making fun of your family.

Nearly all of us, ahem, of a certain age, are familiar with the gameGuess Who?, where you ask leading questions like, “Does this person wear glasses?” until only one character remains. While there have been some tweaks to make these characters more diverse, the general array has stayed the same more or less—so much so that several savvy players have come up with hacks to always win the game.

But what about creating your own customized Guess Who? board, using members of your own family? For Katie Fillmore, it became a unique and fun bonding opportunity–not to mention provided some welcome belly laughs.

In a clip posted to her TikTok, which has racked up close to a million views, we can hear the Filmores cracking up as questions like, “Do we suspect this person is neurodivergent?" and “Would this person enjoy chopping wood?” get thrown around. We also catch a glimpse of family pictures in place of the traditional Guess Who? characters.

@kators88 Guess Who Custom Family Edition #bigfamily #bigfamilylife #bigfamilycheck #siblings #siblingcheck #hilarious #guesswho #familyfun #familytime #funny #funnybones #smallthingsmakemehappy #spendthemorningwithmeasamom #funnybones #unintentionallyfunny ♬ Welp, Didn't Expect That - Yu-Peng Chen & HOYO-MiX

Of course, things only get funnier as the questions become more jabbing, like, “Does this person have a spending problem?” and, “Does this person have all their natural teeth?”

Needless to say, viewers were totally on board with this idea.

“I need to do this with my sibs and cousins,” one person wrote.

Another echoed, “This is the best idea I have ever seen. I’m going to do this for my family as this is our favorite game! Thank you for sharing. This is just epic.”

guess who, guess who family edition, custom guess who games, family games, family board games, best family games, family humor"Could you imagine finding this at a thrift store?" @kators88/TikTok

In fact, several folks shared how they had their own version of this custom Guess Who? game. And one thing always started the same: the guesses were savage. Especially when siblings were involved. That, and everybody always had a blast.

“My sister and I made one of these and the clues were SO FUNNY”

“I’m Mexican. ALL our questions would be severe roasts and everyone would try to one up each other’s roasts.”

“I did this for my wedding with my family members on both sides and my family still plays it once in a while.”

“Oh my god my sister made a whole one of these for the villains in my life it’s so f**king funny.”

“We have one of these for our family and my kids gets BRUTAL with their clues when they play.”

guess who, guess who family edition, custom guess who games, family games, family board games, best family games, family humor"We have this for our family. It's a hoot." @kators88/TikTok

Still a few others admitted they might not have the fortitude to take on such a game.

"The way this game would immediately hurt my feelings. Lol 😂," one person quipped.

"This would immediately turn violent in my family. Especially between my brother and I 😅," another said.

"I am not emotionally robust enough to play this with my family,” confessed a third.

Luckily for Filmore, it’s been nothing but a good time for her and her family. In an interview with People, she shared how it actually brought her family closer together.

"It felt amazing seeing how much joy it brought us—not just during gameplay, but afterward as we talked about memories tied to each photo. It’s not just about playing—it’s about creating lasting memories together."

As for anyone thinking of creating their own family edition of Guess Who?, Fillmore advises: "Don’t overthink it! Embrace imperfections—they’re what make it personal and fun."

From Your Site Articles
family
Trending Stories
OSZAR »