A five-year-old girl emptied her piggy bank so that her friend could buy milk at school.
Sunshine Oelfke dumped the contents of her piggy bank onto the living room floor and started organizing the coins and bills two weeks ago in Ishpeming, Michigan.
She then put all of it in a plastic bag and put it in her backpack.
Her grandmother, Jackie Oelfke, initially thought she was just playing, but when she saw the money in Sunshine’s backpack she asked: ‘What are you doing with that money?’
‘I’m taking it to school,’ Sunshine said.
She explained that she planned to give the money to her friend Layla so she can buy milk.
‘She doesn’t get milk – her mom doesn’t have milk money and I do,’ she said.
Two weeks ago in Ishpeming, Michigan, Sunshine Oelfke dumped the contents of her piggy bank onto the living room floor and started organizing the coins and bills
When her grandmother asked her why she was counting the money, she said she planned to give the money to her friend Layla so she can buy milk
Sunshine’s grandmother Jackie, pictured, went with her to meet with her teacher, Rita Hausher, at Birchview Elementary School and handed her the $30 the kindergartner had saved
Milk at the school costs $0.45 a carton, adding up to $180 a month for each of the 20 children in Sunshine’s class to have milk every day during snack time
Jackie told CBS News that when she heard the explanation her heart sank and melted at the same time.
Sunshine was raised in a ‘non-traditional household,’ according to her grandmother.
Her mom is a drug addict and has been in and out of prison.
‘She’s going to have enough issues growing up with this,’ Oelfke said. ‘I’ve never told her she can’t do something, and I didn’t want to start now.’
Jackie and Sunshine met with her teacher, Rita Hausher, at Birchview Elementary School and handed her the $30 the kindergartner had saved.
There are 20 kids in Sunshine’s class and about half don’t get milk.
Milk at the school costs $0.45 a carton, adding up to $180 a month for each of the 20 children in Sunshine’s class to have milk every day during snack time.
About half of her classmates don’t get milk.
‘Guess what! My whole class got milk today,’ Sunshine proudly told her grandma on Thursday. ‘Layla now has milk money’
‘Milk is important in our family, so it’s very important for Sunshine’s friends to have milk with her,’ Jackie said.
Jackie praised her selfless granddaughter in a tearful video on Facebook that now has almost 7,000 views.
To her surprise, dozens of people offered to donate toward the cause.
Jackie started a GoFundMe page, hoping to raise $700 to cover the cost of milk for the entire semester.
After just two weeks, the page has raised over $6,000. Now every student in Sunshine’s class will have the option to get free milk for the rest of the year.
‘Guess what! My whole class got milk today,’ Sunshine proudly told her grandma on Thursday. ‘Layla now has milk money.’
Jackie said Sunshine doesn’t see her kind act as a big deal. She was just trying to look out for her friends.
‘She doesn’t understand the impact she’s made,’ Jackie said. ‘But now she knows she can do whatever she puts her mind to.’
In a Facebook video Sunshine explains why she gave the money to her friend