A long-time driver for his local school district was actually fired from his job after he posted something to Facebook.
However, what made it confusing is this man was simply standing up for something he believed in and seeking to help rectify an injustice he became aware of from one of the students he drove to and from school each day.
Johnny Cook of Georgia has always been a man with a big heart for the students he drives to and from Harlason County Middle school.
He is also a horse trainer and active member of the community.
One day, when one of his regular students boarded the school bus, he happened to tell Mr. Cook that he was especially hungry.
At first, Mr. Cook first didn’t think much of it and even asked the boy why he didn’t want to eat his lunch that day. The response he received from the young boy broke his heart.
The boy explained that he didn’t eat lunch because the school would not provide him with lunch as he didn’t have the 40 cents on his account that was required to pay for the account.
The young boy was already on a reduced lunch payment plan.
Thinking of that boy going hungry, Mr Cook posted about the incident, without naming the boy, on his Facebook account.
Mr. Cook reached out to family and friends in a plea he hoped would address the issue.
He shared that the never wanted to see another child go hungry because they didn’t have 40 cents to pay for lunch.
The an with a big heart even posted his personal phone number and encouraged anyone who knew of a kid who didn’t have the 40 cents for lunch to call him, saying he would personally scrape up the money.
His Facebook post almost immediately went viral and people everywhere wanted to help.
However, Mr. Cook was called into a meeting with the superintendent who told that he could either redact the post publicly or be terminated.
Mr. Cook couldn’t bring himself to redact the post, so he was essentially fired on the spot.
Hopefully, the viral post will at least bring some light to the issue and help make sure that no student ever has to go a full day at school without any sort of lunch.
