Navigating the lunch room in high school can be difficult for students who have had trouble making friends. It can be hard to find a place to sit that will not result in the kid being chastised, shunned, shooed away or completely ignored.

Kay Kirby would always text her son Andrew during his lunch period because she knew he often had trouble finding a place to sit. It broke her heart to know that Andrew had been dining alone for the four years he was in high school. Then, something huge happened that Kay was never expecting!

“The thought of our son or any child eating alone every day breaks our hearts,” she explained.

When Andrew got home from school one day, he stunned Kay by gushing about what happened at lunch.

“Mom, I didn’t eat alone!” he told her. “Some student council members asked me and three others eating alone to come sit with them, and said we could eat with them again tomorrow, too!”

Kate was surprised and overjoyed that members of the Boiling Springs High School student council approached four students, including Andrew, who were eating alone and asked them to join their group. It literally made Andrew’s day, and Kay snapped a photo of him and posted it on Facebook to commemorate it!

“These students may not have thought this was a big deal, but it was an answer to prayer and a great encouragement for Andrew. THANK YOU to those students, you made a difference today!” she wrote.

“It makes me feel happy that I can eat with people,” Andrew added.

Spartanburg County School District 2 praised the students, saying that they want to make sure all students feel welcome and loved at lunch.

“We typically do not share posts from personal pages, but this is a very worthwhile exception,” the school district said in a statement. “This post shows the loving community we live in, the character of our students and the family-feel of our schools. We are so thankful that Andrew had a great First Day of School in D2!”

We applaud these students for going above and beyond to help their lonely classmates!