It wasn’t just the size of the purchase that made a recent transaction at a North Carolina Costco special — it was the motive behind the $103,079.70 bill.
The goal of the purchase was to provide food for low-income children in Durham during their school break, when parents no longer can rely on school lunches to feed them.
Teacher Turquoise Parker started the Bull City Foodraiser in 2015 when she learned that children were having problems getting enough to eat, according to NBC’s “Today” show.
“I had a family come to me and say, ‘We don’t know how we’re going to eat. Can you please help us?’” Parker said.
She offered to help, then realized that the problem was bigger than one family.
“But we realized if one family was asking, there were probably a lot more who could benefit from the same thing,” Parker said.
After a flood of messages, she managed to have enough for all the children in her class.
“One kid, I’ll never forget, he was so excited to get a GoGo Squeez applesauce pouch,” she said “He said, ‘Only rich people get these! Do you know how expensive they are?’ Ever since then, I always get them the GoGo Squeez. That’s a non-negotiable.”
“I was just so happy and grateful knowing that they would be OK and comfortable over the break,” Parker explained. “But I still wanted to do more.”
Attorney T. Greg Doucette, who was on the ground floor of the project in 2015, has been in charge of fundraising ever since – and he gets results.
By this year, when he set a record at Costco, what began as help for one classroom of children was helping 5,103 needy children in Durham.
“It’s been awesome for me to kind of ride shotgun on this with her and see what it’s become,” Doucette said.
More loading pics!
We’ve got ~25 pallets in, another 25 pallets for load 2 at ~4p
2/2 pic.twitter.com/6Da5jpYxzJ
— T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) December 8, 2021
The receipt is longer than my notepad ? pic.twitter.com/9qPNibZPd4
— T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) December 8, 2021
Those who receive help appreciate what is done for them.
“One year she helped us with Christmas — she gave for everyone in the house on Christmas. And this year, she helped with Thanksgiving,’ a woman named Cynthia told “Today.”
Parker said that caring is something everyone can do, rich or poor.
“We don’t make a whole bunch of money as teachers in North Carolina, but I’m going to do anything I can to make sure my kids eat,” she said. “We must take care of each other. We are all called to serve.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.