Several months ago in Albuquerque, Josette Duran’s son asked her to start packing him two school lunches, and she didn’t ask any questions; she just started to pack twice the amount of food.

After weeks of packing two lunches, Duran eventually asked if her son was not getting full with just one lunch. Then he fessed up the heartbreaking truth.

“Mom, it’s for this boy,” answered her son, Dylan. “He only eats a fruit cup for lunch. Can you make him lunch too? I don’t think he has lunch money.”

In that moment, Duran felt very sad for her son’s friend, but she also felt extremely proud that her son decided to help out someone in need. After doing some investigating, Duran found out that the mother of Dylan’s friend had lost her job and could no longer afford to pay for lunches at the unidentified school.

After hearing about the mom’s story, Duran felt very particularly empathetic for her because she could relate to the feeling.  

“This hits home to me because a few years ago, me and my son were homeless,” Duran told KCII News. “I was living in my car and I was washing him in bathrooms. And we didn’t have food.”

Eventually, the young boy’s mom found out that Duran was feeding him and offered to pay for the lunches she’d be providing. However, Duran refused to accept any money from the mother.

After hearing her story, the girls' volleyball team that Duran coaches raised more than $400 to pay her back, but she took the money to the cafeteria instead.

"We paid up all the past due accounts for all the kids who need lunch," Duran tearfully said. "So now, nobody in that school owes any money, and now everyone can eat."