Teacher starts fund to give every Paterson student a gift
PLAINSBORO, New Jersey (WABC) -- All 500 students at a school in Paterson received holiday gifts this week, thanks to a teacher's amazing generosity.
"I wake up every day, not many people can say they love what they do. I do," said Jennifer Olawski, a teacher.
Olawski's smile and heart have gone a long way in spreading the message of what it means to care about another person.
Olawski received hug after hug, and then more, when she was the gym and health teacher at Community Charter School in Paterson. It was where one little girl's story took Olawski on a mission.
"She told me she never received a gift," Olawski said. "And so that night it was going through my mind, I couldn't shake it."
Olawski, her friends, and family raised enough money to buy all 500 kids at the school a holiday gift.
By the second year, help from strangers through GoFundMe raised $5,000.
Olawski now teaches at Livingston Elementary School in New Brunswick where her gift of giving will flow to 450 new receivers.
"Something just told me maybe this is your purpose, to move to another school to continue spreading kindness," Olawski said.
Anyone looking to help make this happen, Olawski has her GoFundMe page active again.
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