Hum Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Dianne Brame, the cafeteria manager at Hudson Elementary School in Webster Groves, Missouri, said she knows each one of her students by name. Brame took a special interest in one fourth grade boy. She noticed that he used to be on the free lunch program, but he had not been renewed to continue receiving free meals. Brame believed that was because his mother, who does not speak English, did not understand the paperwork for getting access to the meals. So Brame stepped in and tried communicating with the family through the mail, but to no avail. Any kids who do not have current eligibility status are allowed to receive only three free regular meals. After that, the protocol is that these kids receive only a cheese sandwich and a carton of milk. Brame feared that the boy would be made fun of or bullied. So she gave him a free regular lunch for two months. An employee reported Brame's actions to Chartwells, the food service company employed by the school that prepares the food served to the students. Chartwells then fired Brame. But the story does not end there. When Chartwells found out the full details of the boy's story and why Brame took the actions that she did, they rehired her and said it was all just a misunderstanding. They released the following statement: "Chartwells appreciates the concern of this employee, and of all of our employees, who put the well being of school children first." Brame told local TV station KSDK that she knew she had broken the rules, but she was trying to prevent the young man from being made fun of, and she would do it all over again, adding, "I don't think any kid should be hungry." source Charisma, *RedBull* and Sadelwo 3 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c.grz Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Well, I'm glad the company realized its mistake and rehired her. Spartan Erik, BajiRav, Xoligy and 1 other 4 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakey Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Aw, at first I was all like :angry: but then I was all like :cry: :woot: :laugh: Anibal P 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooko22 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I was totally ready to rave on them too but yea good on them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 ... it was all just a misunderstanding. The school was scared ****less of an impending lawsuit. ;) Spartan Erik 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t_r_nelson Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I thought this was going to end badly. Hum chucked us a curveball story. Spartan Erik 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anibal P Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 ;) Wasn't the school but a food service company paid by the district Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moloko Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 ;) That and what would happen if this jumped to a national level in the news. The parent feedback would of been horrible. Glad they "learned" a lesson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJerman Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Well, I'm gonna go for the other side on this one and say she deserved to be fired, but hear me out. You own a company. You have to pay yourself and everyone else, as well as all of your operating expenses to keep your company running. One employee is giving things away for free for months without telling anyone. What do you do? You fire them. I fully understand that what she was doing was for a noble cause, but there are ways to handle situations properly and not, and the way she handled it just wasn't right in this situation. If she wanted to donate the money herself to pay, then sure. If she wanted to talk to someone higher up about helping the kid, great. If she wanted to make further attempt to get the kid signed up properly, no problem. But giving away food for free that isn't hers to give away is the wrong way to handle the situation, even if it was meant to be a kind act. She even admitted that she was in the wrong. I'm glad to see the her and her employer were able to work it out and let her keep her job though. I'd hate for someone's kind actions get thrown back in their face, regardless of if it was right or not. oliver182 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisj1968 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 so much for compassion anymore. Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMELTN Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Well, I'm gonna go for the other side on this one and say she deserved to be fired, but hear me out. You own a company. You have to pay yourself and everyone else, as well as all of your operating expenses to keep your company running. One employee is giving things away for free for months without telling anyone. What do you do? You fire them. I fully understand that what she was doing was for a noble cause, but there are ways to handle situations properly and not, and the way she handled it just wasn't right in this situation. If she wanted to donate the money herself to pay, then sure. If she wanted to talk to someone higher up about helping the kid, great. If she wanted to make further attempt to get the kid signed up properly, no problem. But giving away food for free that isn't hers to give away is the wrong way to handle the situation, even if it was meant to be a kind act. She even admitted that she was in the wrong. I'm glad to see the her and her employer were able to work it out and let her keep her job though. I'd hate for someone's kind actions get thrown back in their face, regardless of if it was right or not. To add, I have seen this done in the past, but the person paid for the kids lunch themselves out of their pockets, not out of the companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightEco Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 For the outrageous prices that Chartwells charges schools and the record profits they continue to have, I think giving some needy children free lunch should be something they more can afford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfish Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 To add, I have seen this done in the past, but the person paid for the kids lunch themselves out of their pockets, not out of the companies. Yea, that makes more sense to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nogib Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Dumb ****ing company. They should never have rehired her. What she did was dead wrong and she deserved to be fired like that. +Warwagon 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 It's most unfortunate that we live in a world where people get more angry about losing a company a couple of bucks of profit than they do about a child going hungry. I'm glad she got her job back, one good turn deserves another. Charisma, Veiva, +hedleigh and 1 other 4 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charisma Veteran Posted December 19, 2012 Veteran Share Posted December 19, 2012 Of course, now that it's gone public the kid will probably still be made fun of. I wish sometimes these things would stay private. Good on her valuing a human life though, shame on those of you saying otherwise :p What's one meal out of the whole batch compared to the difference it made for this kid? Spartan Erik and Noir Angel 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 ^ I mostly agree with you -- but it was about 35 meals over 2 months. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 So the owner of the corp might not be able to get a brass toilet roll holder on his next private yacht. Boo freakin' hoo :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted December 19, 2012 MVC Share Posted December 19, 2012 Fire her, for real this time. It was not her food to give away. The kid was not going to starve.He was going to get bread cheese milk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charisma Veteran Posted December 19, 2012 Veteran Share Posted December 19, 2012 ^ I mostly agree with you -- but it was about 35 meals over 2 months. ;) And? A kid doesn't eat that much, this isn't like full-sized adult meals. One spoonful out of the pot, one piece of weird rectangular pizza from the whole slab... more than that gets thrown out if it's dropped on the floor. If she were nicking it to take home or something, or if this were some big epidemic, fine. But one poor kid? I dunno, maybe just because I grew up destitute and understand just what an impact this makes on a kid's life. A kid who doesn't grasp the concept of finances and doesn't understand why they can't have what the other kids have. A kid who does go hungry a lot, who moves around every other month because an irresponsible parent is getting them evicted left right and centre, who is often without electricity or running water, a kid who thinks the best thing that happened to them all year was finding a brand-name pair of shoes at the thrift store so they won't get picked on quite as much for a while--at least until they've outgrown them. Maybe this lady did understand that, and chose to risk it and reach out. +hedleigh, Veiva, Spartan Erik and 1 other 4 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xoligy Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 While, it sounds great she gave away free lunches, the lunches weren't hers to give away. Might not be her food to give away but i think most would agree its better for someone to have a decent meal than for it to be thrown in the trash and i bet they throw away more than one meal a day away. Charisma, Noir Angel and +hedleigh 3 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 If it were someone breaking out a mass campaign of theft it would be a different matter, but one person breaking the rules to help one other person? C'mon it's not that bad. It's sad that the poor girl was in a situation that necessitated such depravity in the first place. America is one of the richest countries in the world, there's no excuse for people to starve, Spartan Erik and Charisma 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted December 19, 2012 MVC Share Posted December 19, 2012 there's no excuse for people to starve, The food was not hers to give away. Normal procedure if he couldn't afford his lunch was to get Bread, cheese and milk. Nobody was going to go hungry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jamwheat Subscriber² Posted December 19, 2012 Subscriber² Share Posted December 19, 2012 Only thing I saw wrong is she should have paid for the meals. Only right that way. But, kudos for helping the kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 Fire her, for real this time. It was not her food to give away. The kid was not going to starve.He was going to get bread cheese milk. ^ Tell them Scrooge :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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