GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Organizations everywhere are asking you to do a little giving for #GivingTuesday. One man though, took giving a step further.
When Allen Gottfried woke up this morning, he -- like a lot of us -- wanted to do some giving for Giving Tuesday right here in his community.
He did by setting up a GoFundMe to pay off student lunch debt at his kids' school, Colfax Elementary.
"That was the initial thing, because not only do they have kids that are currently going there or maybe just went through the school. It is right there. It is part of our neighborhood. Kids play basketball there, and they go there. It makes that connection. Sure, we could donate to this school, or University but we don't see the direct effect of that," said Gottfried.
Like many schools, there are a lot of students at Colfax Eelementary on free or reduced lunch -- about one third in fact. Their lunch debt is just over $400, but Gottfried knows, every little bit can be a big help this time of year.
"To a parent to find out that, that fifty dollars or whatever it is is not a burden anymore, it means a lot. We've been there, I am sure a lot of us have been there at that point. Everything comes up at the same time, you have no money to do anything and now you have this right in front of you. So, one thing taken off the plate at least this time of year, I think its a great thing to do," said Gottfried.
"This allows us to help those parents who all of a sudden had a specific need happen, and need some support to make it through a rough time, and this will allow the students to be able to focus on their learning, and they won't have to worry about being hungry," said Michelle Thigpen, the Principal at Colfax Elementary School.
Gottfried set a goal of $500. That total will give a little cushion to make sure all of the school lunch debts get paid off. So far, more than half of the goal has been raised with $275 raised.
