Some kids are wise beyond their years. For their 8th birthdays, second graders Gabbie and Alice didn’t want presents. Instead, these selfless students at George J. Mitchell School in Waterville, Maine, decided to give to others. As Good News Network reports, the community is one of the poorest in the state, so last year the school opened a food pantry so that any student or their families can have access to free food, no questions asked.
Knowing about the situation that their fellow classmates were in, the best friends decided that for their joint birthday, they wanted donations to the pantry in lieu of gifts. When the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization president Jennifer Johnson heard about the girls’ wish, she set up a GoFundMe page and helped the girls quickly raise $1,760 in three days. That amounts to more than four months’ supply of food for the pantry, Johnson wrote on the site.
MORE: This State Is Making Sure No Child is Ever Denied a School Lunch
Anyone interested in donating to the school can do so on the fundraising site. As Johnson wrote, “Every single little donation helps, and encourages not only these girls, but others that come after them, to embrace the spirit of community and generosity. It sends the message that even kids can make a difference in the world. It feeds families in need.” Now that’s the gift of giving.