San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman made several generous donations recently, and both will help schools feed their students and make sure students can eat while they’re at school.
Sherman recently donated over $27,000 to clear student lunch debt in two cities that are close to his heart. According to ABC News, Sherman handed a personal check for $7,491.27 to principal Stan Garber last week, which will eliminate all student lunch debt at Cabrillo Middle School in Santa Clara, Calif.
Cabrillo Middle School is the school closest to the 49ers’ stadium, and Garber was so grateful for Sherman’s generous contribution.
"It's the most generous thing to happen for these kids, there's plenty in need and he didn't neglect them, it was the perfect way to give back and help them," Garber told ABC News. "It was the kindest most generous gesture."
Sherman didn’t stop with Cabrillo Middle School. He also gave $20,000 to the Tacoma, Wash., public school system to eliminate student lunch debt at schools in that area. Sherman spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Seattle Seahawks, which is about 30 miles from Seattle.
Student lunch debt is a major problem nationwide, as is childhood hunger. Schools will allow students to carry lunch debt to make sure they’re able to eat instead of going hungry, but parents aren’t always able to pay it back. Some school districts have taken to punishing students with lunch debt, cutting off their ability to do activities with their classmates, simply because their parents can’t afford to pay.
An estimated 75 percent of all school districts in the country ended the last school year with lunch debt, and it’s a growing problem. Sherman is doing his part to help students, and he spread love and the generous spirit of Thanksgiving in the process.
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