Wayne Price has been a bus driver in Montevallo, Alabama, for five years.
On the morning of December 11, he received a call that school would be delayed for two hours due to inclement weather, great news for kids in many cities across the nation!
In Montevallo, however, a delay also means that many students will miss out on breakfast at the school cafeteria, which Wayne knew is the only morning meal some students get.
Data gathered in the currently-active school year shows that 75% of students at Montevallo elementary use the National School Lunch Program, a "federal program that ensures kids from low-income families will be able to eat lunch and breakfast at a free or reduced price during the school day."
The bus driver decided he wasn't going to let any children go hungry on his watch.For many of those students, a delay would mean skipping out on the most important meal of the day according to Allison Campbell, Principal of Montevello Elementary:
"For a lot of students that means that they won't get to eat. It speaks volumes to [Price's] character that he was attune to that."
Price came up with a plan right away, according to TODAY:
he would help the children by getting them a breakfast of their own!
"When I got to McDonald's, I asked the manager, 'Can you turn around 50 biscuits in 15 minutes and can you give me as good of a deal as possible?' He gave me a dollar deal and we just turned it around. They really hustled with other customers in the store and I walked out with a box load of biscuits for my kids."
Price told Today this act of kindness was not random, but inspired by his faith:
"I'm driven by faith and Christ."
Since closing his company in 2003, Price has been a youth minister at his local church, running the youth group and "[organizing] teen and college-aged student trips to volunteer on Navajo reservations."
Twitter was glad to hear there are kind people like Price in the world.
Seeing the kids' faces as he served them a hearty breakfast made all the difference to their kind driver:
"When the kids got on I said, 'So, what do ya want? Sausage? McMuffin? I got some sweet kids and I get really attached to them ... they were really appreciative."
"I dunno. I just love my kids. I got lots of fist pumps, lots of high-fives, lots of 'Love you Mr. Price,' lots of 'Thank you Mr. Price.'"
For Price, the holiday season is all about giving, and he's glad he did!
Every small act of kindness can make a huge difference to people in need.
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