AMBRIDGE — Some Ambridge Area School District families got an early Christmas gift Wednesday thanks to two good Samaritans.

Two Ambridge residents approached the district’s Food Services offices to pay off about $1,300 in past due lunch balances. Steve Yurkovac told the district he hopes that others in the community would be inspired to consider doing something similar to help people in the community.

“Both my wife and I were on the free-and-reduced lunch program at one time during our time at Ambridge, so we know what that’s like,” Yurkovac said. “It got me to thinking that at this time of year, everyone is focused on helping as many people as possible, so they think about the big charities in an effort to help as many as they can. But when we do that, sometimes our own neighborhood can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. We wanted to make our donation a little closer to home.”

Shari Berg, public relations consultant for the district, said that one man requested anonymity from the district. However, other media outlets have identified Brian Kowalski as the second donor after a Facebook user named “Bri Ko” made a public post to his Facebook page. That post included a photo of a check for $797.02 and a message saying “This morning I paid off every kid's past due lunch bill for all the elementary schools in the Ambridge School District. Those families could use the little extra to make their child’s Christmas a little better. My hope is to inspire others to do something similar for their school, church, local shelter, etc.”

At the Junior High School, the men paid for $500 worth of past-due lunches for 90 students. At the district elementary schools, 215 students’ bills were paid for a total of $796.

There are still negative balances of $1,320.38 at the senior high school, food services director Janet Gaffney said.

Gaffney said this is the first time she has seen something like this happen in the 25 years she has run the food services department. Yurkovac said he was inspired by a story about someone paying off overdue library fines for a student at a local library.

“I am so moved and grateful to have been a part of this experience of having two of our parents come forward in this giving act of generosity,” Gaffney said in a release. “To see firsthand the spirit of giving is still alive and well in the (Ambridge Area School District).”