[UPDATE]
Idaho State Journal reports officials from Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 announced they have offered to reinstate Dalene Bowden, who was fired last week for giving a student a free lunch. But Bowden told the newspaper that she has not been contacted personally by the school district about getting her job back. Click here to read more.
[ORIGINAL STORY]
POCATELLO, Idaho — A school lunch lady in Idaho claims she was fired from her job last week after she gave a hungry student a free meal.
Dalene Bowden told KPVI that a 12-year-old girl came up to her and said she didn’t have any money for lunch.
“My heart hurts,” Bowden told KPVI. “I truly loved my job, and I can’t say that I wouldn’t do it again.”
Bowden said her supervisor saw her give the little girl food last Tuesday and reported the incident.
“He said I was on permanent leave until he called me. I should not call them. He will call me. And they never called me. I got the letter,” she explained.
The letter said that Bowden was terminated for “theft.”
Social media has since rallied behind Bowden. Since she was fired, Bowden has hired an attorney and started an online petition to help get her job back.
The school district did not respond to KPVI’s request for comment.
