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A Maryland 7-year-old found out some of her classmates weren’t able to pay for their school lunch. Therefore, she thought of a way to help them and created an online fundraiser that surpassed her initial goal.

“I saw some kids just eating a cheese sandwich,” EmauniJ Manley told NBC affiliate WRC-TV. Once she learned from her mother that some students don’t have enough money to pay for their lunch. “I need to do a fundraiser so I can get more money for kids,” she added. EmauniJ and her mother, who also works at her school, started the fundraiser to raise money to pay the unpaid lunch accounts of as many students as possible. The fundraiser’s initial goals were to raise $800 but after the first week, it reached over $4,300.

Ben Harrington the principal of the school praised EmauniJ for her efforts to help her classmates, “It’s really cool to see a student who’s 7 taking the initiative to impact other students at the school.”

Harrington said out of 500 students, about 100 receive alternative lunches.

“Elementary school students have a $25 deficit,” Harrington said. “They can go $25 before they get the alternative meal. Once you get into that deficit, sometimes it’s difficult to come back.”

The elementary school student has the heart to give back but has also become a published author about having a positive self-image at the age of 5.

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