Who Is Bonnie Kimball? New Details On The Lunchroom Worker Fired For Giving Free Lunch To Hungry Student

Bonnie Kimball is the lunchroom worker you would hope to have working at your high school. Students who especially come from low incomed families may not always have the finances to pay for lunch out of pocket if they have not been approved for free lunch. Kimball showed compassion and humanity in a situation that could have ended with a student being turned away and hungry. Who Is Bonnie Kimball?

1. Mascoma Valley Regional High School Lunch Worker

Bonnie was a valued member of the Cafe Services team and she was recognized for creating a smoothie program in the lunchroom. She worked at New Hampshire's Mascoma Valley Regional High School for four and a half years and was familair with the students and their financial situations.

2. Bonnie Fired For Following School District Policy

Kimball was following school policy when she allowed a high school student who could not py to take an $8 lunch. There is a clear school district policy that students should not be allowed to go hungry even if they can't afford it. “The policy is that the student be fed,” a school district official told the New Hampshire Union Leader. “There’s no refusal.” She informed the student that his mother would have to add the money to the account the following day, Cafe Services reached out to let her know she was fired for giving out free lunch the next day even though the student paid for his tab.

3. Lunchroom Workers Protest Over Accusations 

In protest, two other cafeteria staff quit after Bonnie was fired. Valley News wrote an opinion piece about the women taking a stand. The women who quit in protext worked for Cafe Services for 20 years. People who've worked with them said that the women brought a lot of heart and compassion into their job and they will be missed. 

4. Job Offer Placed Back On The Table

The company said that it offered to rehire Bonnie and to pay her for the days missed after she was initinally fired for the incident. They have also committed to working with the school district to change the policies on transcations. However, in an interview with CBS Boston Bonnie admitted that she never recieved a job offer to return the company. She also said that even if the company actually did offer her the job back she would not accept it and does not desire to return. Kimball does not see the offer as genuine and knows it is because of the backlash the company is experiencing.

5. Celebrity Chef Offers To Hire Lunchworker 

The story about Kimball has gone so viral that Chef José Andrés offered Bonnie a job through a Twitter post at his nonprofit World Central Kitchen. "The hero is Bonnie Kimball! If she needs a new job we have openings @thinkfoodgroup." Although we haven't heard any news about whether she will be pursing a position at World Central Kitchen, Kimball has many opportunites available for her.

Diana Noel is a Junior at the University of Central Florida studying Journalism with a minor in Writing and Rhetoric. Besides writing articles for YourTango and Her Campus, she loves scrapbooking, spending countless hours at coffee shops, and playing random board games with her friends. She is dedicated to pursing a career in publishing/magazine writing, and would like to write her own books in the near future. She is a God loving introvert, bubbly and at times uncontrollably shy but she's not afraid to use her voice to speak up. Some may say she is a lion at heart who will roar when she is filled with passion.